BIRDS OF JACKSON CO., OREGON, & SURROUNDING AREAS 51 



Catharus guttatus. Hermit Thrush. 



Specimens: Four specimens from Prospect, two in April, two in 

 December; both sexes. The Hermit Thrush is a fairly common breed- 

 ing bird and uncommon winter resident. The species breeds in the 

 Mixed Conifer and True Fir forests. The lowest elevation for apparent 

 breeding is indicated by a record of a singing male in Yank Gultch, 

 southwest of Talent, at 732 m, on June 26, 1960. It arrives n Jackson 

 County in late April and normally departs in late September. 



Catharus fuscescens. Veery. 



The Veery is a rare migrant or visitor. The species was first reported 

 in Jackson County in 1964 when one was observed near Shady Cove 

 on May 24. One was seen at Talent on May 6, 1964, and one near Shady 

 Cove May 28-29, 1965. Single birds were reported near Shady Cove 

 in the summers of 1968, 1969, and 1970. There are several records 

 from eastern Oregon (Gabrielson and Jewett, 1940). 



Sialia mexicana. Western Bluebird. 



Specimens: Four of both sexes near Prospect, February and March; 

 Eagle Point, female, November 26, 1925; 19.3 km NE Trail, male, 

 March 6, 1926. The Western Bluebird is a common to fairly common 

 permanent resident. This bluebird frequents oak woodlands and some 

 open conifer forests of the Chaparral-Oak Community and the Mixed 

 Conifer Forest. It is most commonly observed in the foothills of the 

 Lower Rogue River and Bear Creek valleys. Winter populations dur- 

 ing 1962 were greatly reduced during a week of temperatures near 

 -17 C. 



Sialia currucoides. Mountain Bluebird. 



Photographs: White City, February 1962 (JH) ; near Old Military 

 Bridge, March 17, 1964 (DT). The Mountain Bluebird is an uncom- 

 mon breeding bird in the True Fir Forest of the Cascade and Siskiyou 

 mountains. The species is a rare irregular winter visitor to the Lower 

 Rogue River and Bear Creek valleys. 



Myadestes townsendi. Townsend's Solitaire. 



Specimens: 12.9 km SW Prospect, female, April 3, 1947, male 

 June 30, 1951. Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) report numerous records 

 from the eastern part of the county in the valley foothills. Gabrielson 

 collected an immature barely able to fly on the western base of Mount 

 McLoughlin on July 27, 1926. Recent records of this thrush suggest 

 that it breeds in the high Cascades and probably in the Siskiyou 

 Mountains of the True Fir Forest. During fall and winter this species 

 occasionally wanders to the foothills east of Bear Creek, and it has 

 been reported at Ashland and at Hoover's Lakes in the spring. 



