18 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 70 



There are six jull species in Oregon that are primarily restricted 

 to Jackson County although they occur in certain parts of California, 

 Nevada, and other States to the south and east. The Tricolored 

 Blackbird breeds in eastern Oregon. The following species are known 

 to breed in the Lower Rogue River Valley : 



Acorn Woodpecker Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 



Black Phoebe Tricolored Blackbird 



Plain Titmouse Brown Towhee 



The Acorn Woodpecker, Plain Titmouse, and Brown Towhee were 

 apparently well established as breeding species by the time Gabrielson 

 and Jewett (1940) completed their field work in southern Oregon. 

 The remaining three species have become breeding birds in the 

 study area only recently. 



Gabrielson and Jewett (1940:605) placed the Black Phoebe on their 

 hypothetical list on the basis of two early records from the Umpqua 

 Valley and from Salem. Breeding was confirmed in Jackson County 

 in 1953 (Richardson and Sturges 1964). Grinnell and Miller (1944:253) 

 do not list Siskiyou County, California, immediately to the south of 

 Jackson County, as a breeding locality, although they cite breeding 

 records from counties to the south and west of Siskiyou County as 

 extreme northern breeding locations. It seems probable that the Black 

 Phoebe first entered Jackson County via the Applegate River or 

 Siskiyou Pass southeast of Ashland, both of which offer relatively 

 low access over the Siskiyou Mountains. 



Breeding was attempted by a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers on 

 Roxy Ann in 1963, and young were successfully fledged the following 

 year (Richardson and Sturges 1964). At least one pair of this species 

 has bred on Roxy Ann annually since then; six pairs and one nest 

 were found in 1971. This species was reported breeding in Siskiyou 

 County, California (at Hornbrook and Yreka), as early as 1870 

 (Grinnell and Miller 1944:368). 



Tricolored Blackbirds have been known to breed in Klamath 

 County, Oregon, since 1933 (Gabrielson and Jewett 1940). The species 

 was first observed in Jackson County during the summer of 1956 and 

 breeding was verified in 1960 (Richardson 1961). 



Within Jackson County, certain breeding species are restricted to 

 major plant communities. 



