E. A. Kitchin

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When work is undertaken today to write or publish anything on ornithology, we know that the subject of birds has progressed wonderfully, and that our writings must appeal to a people more advanced in this study than those of former years. Notes on birds, their daily life or migrations mean more than the old, dry descriptions and measurements. Outside of benefits to mankind, or the reverse, we are becoming more interested in the birds themselves, migration dates, changes of plumage, and nesting seasons and to learn, if possible, a certain amount of individuality in each of our bird neighbors. It is better to know one bird well than to have a limited knowledge of many of them.

In the following pages we have given only a general description of each bird, its nest and eggs. We have recorded its occurrances in the park, whether scarce or abundant, and in what altitudes and environments it may be found. The theme of "Nature Notes" has been carried through the description of each bird, while personal experiences and descriptions have been related in the hope that the reader may derive a benefit from such accounts.

It is our hope, also, that this publication will be a source of assistance and entertainment to the visitor while in Mount Rainier National Park, and a help in the study of wildlife not only in this park but also in the surrounding area and, through comparison, in other National Parks.

General Description of the Park

A glance at a map of Mount Rainier National Park shows it to be almost square. It measures approximately 20 miles on each side covering, to be exact, an area of 377.78 square miles with Mount Rainier lying just to the west of the center of the park.

This tremendous peak, rising to a height of 14,408 feet, is eternally snowcapped with the greater portion of the higher slopes covered by fields of ice, having an ice area of approximately 45 square miles. These glaciers extend to low elevations upon the slopes of "The Mountain" and, through gradual melting, serve as the source of the major rivers and streams that flow through the park. Another look at the map reveals that the four largest streams extend from their glacier sources to the four corners of the park - the Nisqually River to the southwest, the Carbon River to the northwest, the Ohanapecosh to the southeast and the White River to the northeast. These rivers, as well as others that flow through the thick forests, open up flyways for migrating birds that summer on the mountain above the region of heavy timber.

However, merely looking at a map does not give a true picture or idea of what the park really is. It is not the horizontal dimension but the vertical - the steep mountain sides rising from about 2000 feet at the lower park boundaries to a height of some 2-1/3 miles to the crest - that forms and separates the zones in which our different birds live. It is a country of strong landscapes, distinct separations and abrupt environments. There are thick forests of coniferous trees, open grassy meadows, glaciers, "silver forests" of dead, burned trees, perpendicular rock faces, and rivers whose banks support a deciduous growth, forming a narrow strip through the coniferous forests. There are no sluggish streams, nor muddy lakes to attract and hold aquatic birds in the park for any length of time.

It is a tremendously rugged country, not attractive to some birds but thoroughly adaptable to others.

Life Zones

There are, according to Taylor and Shaw, (1) four distinct Life Zones in Mount Rainier National Park, namely: Humid Transition, Canadian, Hudsonian and Arctic-alpine.

Humid-Transition Zone: This zone occupies only a small portion of the park - in the Stevens-Cowlitz River area near the southern boundary. This section has been repeatedly burned in years gone by and is open and brushy - a country of alder, maple, devil's club and salmon-berry, with few mature coniferous trees. It is the uppermost range for such birds as the Lewis's woodpecker, California quail, Oregon ruffed grouse, California yellow warbler and Pacific nighthawk - birds usually found below the park elevations.

Canadian Zone: With the exception of the small Humid-Transition area just noted, this zone comprises the country from the lower park boundaries to an elevation of about 5000 feet. This area is covered with a thick growth of coniferous trees such as the Douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock. In these forests are found the Oregon jay, Stellar's jay, Gairdner's, Harris's, and northern pileated woodpeckers, the chestnut-backed chickadee, sooty grouse, western winter wren, and others.

Hudsonian Zone: From the limit of the thick forest upward to about 6500 feet, the trees, principally alpine fir and mountain hemlock, are small. The country is mere open, interspersed with flower meadows during the summer and characterized by deep snows in winter. This zone, as the name implies, has a climate similar to that of northern Canada in the latitude of Hudson Bay. Birds are represented by the mountain bluebird, Sierra hermit thrush, Townsend's solitaire, Townsend's warbler, calliope hummingbird, Grinnell's chickadee, Clerk's nutcracker, and the slate-colored sparrow.

Arctic-alpine Zone: This zone is the country above 6500 feet to the crest of the mountain, most of which is covered with perpetual snow and ice - a land of storms and winds. For a short time in summer the lower parts are bare; the ground is rocky and rough. Corresponding to Arctic regions of the far north, we find the pipit, pallid horned lark, Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan and Hepburn's rosy finch breeding here.

Habitats Within Life Zones

Although a resident bird should be found in the particular life zone to which it is best adapted, it will not be found there if local conditions are not consistent with its mode of living. Its physical construction, personal make-up, and food requirements demand certain conditions here it can live and abide - a habitat suitable to its ways and actions.

On Mount Rainier, habitats for most of our birds are sharply defined. The green forest - habitat of woodpecker and winter wren - contrasts sharply with the mountain meadows above - the habitat of some of our sparrows and finches. Broad-winged hawks that live on ground squirrels and meadow mice, inhabit the open country of the north and east sides where no curtain of tree-tops obstructs their vision. Owls, on the contrary, must have a habit at in which to hide in the daytime, so resort to the forest for protection, The stream beds extending downward through two or three life zones and contrasting sharply with the forests or rocky slopes on either side, are natural habitats of the dipper or kingfisher. Ground-nesting warblers that flit from branch to branch must have thickets and bushes in a fairly open country, but the habitat of the pipit and horned lark - birds that are physically constructed for walking - is the high slopes lacking obstructive growth. Shorebirds, with long wading legs and long slender bills must resort to the soft mud flats, while ducks and sea-birds inhabit open water. The latter are perfect divers and swimmers but are ungainly on land.

Thus if the local zonditions in the area do not make it habitable for a bird, it cannot stay or live even in its proper life zone.

Bird Divisions in the State of Washington and in the Park

The State of Washington is remarkably situated or adapted to variations in bird life. The shore of the Pacific is the natural habitat for many sea-birds, as is Puget Sound, whose arms extend inland with a shoreline of over two thousand miles. These waters attract our birdlife, and have a marked effect as both migratory and breeding areas.

The Cascade Range, running north and south, separates eastern and western Washington into two distinct areas that offer totally different conditions for birdlife. On the east side is found, in many parts, an open, dry, arid, sage--covered land, cold in winter and hot in summer. Numerous shallow, inland lakes form attractive breeding grounds for birds that like the hot summer season. The western area, largely due to the proximity of the Pacific is temperate - a land of green forests, with rains and moisture and no severe cold, attractive to birds seeking the woods or the shorelines with their heavily-covered gulches opening to the salt water. Two other areas, distinctive to bird-life in the State, are the mountain ranges and the ocean shoreline, both extending north and south. Taking the total number of 391 species and sub-species listed in the last printed Check List (2) as a basis, the birds found in the different ranges can be sub-divided as follows:

This some list can be divided into a seasonal chart:

By this it is seen that of the 391 species and sub-species recorded, 195 winter in the State - a very large proportion when we consider that the State of Washington lies so far north.

Of the 122 species and sub-species recorded in Mount Rainier National Park, segregation can be made on a somewhat different basis. In this high country are found not only direct migrating birds in summer and fall, but those that might be said to just visit the park in a not altogether migratory movement:

Migrations

In the study of birds, migration has for many years been a subject of deep interest and discussion, but with few satisfactory results. From prehistoric times the birds have made their journeys north and south. We realize that the winters are too severe for our common summer visitors and that the lack of food would destroy them at once. But why do they leave a warm country where there is an abundance of food, to come north to breed and spend the summer? Some birds stay here all year without any migratory instincts, Why does this not apply to our birds that winter in the south? What makes the thousands of shorebirds travel to the Arctic Circle to hastily lay four eggs in the tundra, raise their young and hurry back with all the speed they possess? Surely many could stop here and have a longer, easier nesting season. It is simply Nature's way and the inheritance of thousands of years. We still do not know why, and probably never will!

One of the greatest migratory flights in America occurs along the coastal region in the Pacific northwest. Not only do we have our own summer birds that come and go, but the tremendous hoard that seeks Alaska each year passes along our coast or our seashore. In winter thousands of seabirds end their southern migrations off the Washington coast or in Puget Sound; so many, in fact, that there are more varieties of birds in winter than in summer, meaning that our winter visitors exceed our summer migratory visitors.

Migrations in the Park

Though this vast Alaska migration passes within one hundred miles of Mount Rainier National Park, with no natural barrier between, it does not influence, to any great extent, the park birdlife. There are two chief reasons for this: first, though we are not far from the line of travel, the elevation is too great; second, when birds are making their northern migration our high country is still wrapped in winter snow, the ground covered and the lakes frozen.

In the fall there is a migration of landbirds from the north that seems to follow along the ranges, such as sparrows, woodpeckers, and birds of prey. In spring their return journey passes on both sides of the Cascade Range. The migrating birds that reach us in late spring are birds that have reached their journey's end and are here to breed. They come from both sides of the mountains never exchanging. The rosy finch and Cassin's purple finch come from the east side, while the pipit, savannah sparrow, junco and robin approach from the west, and in fall each returns the same way. While the Alaska migration passes by Mount Rainier, it is, in itself, an attraction to many migrants. Such birds as the rosy finch, pipit, pallid horned lark, calliope hummingbird, Townsend's solitaire and Townsend's warbler, are attracted and stop here to breed.

There is, perhaps, another migration that passes over the park from west to east, and east to west. This is not seen as it occurs at night. Such birds as the grebes and gulls that occasionally stop to rest on our mountain lakes in fall, migrate from salt water to their nesting grounds in eastern Washington in spring, and return in fall to winter on salt water. The few birds seen here are not local breeders and seldom stay long.

Forest Protection by Birds

Birds are exceedingly beneficial in the forests. The Oregon jay feeds on beetles and larvae found in the festooned moss on fir branches. The three-toed, pileated, and Harris's woodpeckers are constantly pecking and chiseling to get at the boring beetles in the live tree trunks. Chickadees and their kin, wood warblers and vireos spend most of their time hunting and catching the tiny insects upon the foliage. As we view our virgin forests that have taken centuries to develop, we know that the birds have done their part in protecting the trees from their parasites.

Birds in Winter

Although our forests in winter are silent and snow-bound, the park is never devoid of birdlife. Along the river bottoms spritely groups of chickadees, creepers, kinglets and nuthatches flit past from branch to branch; one wonders how they can keep alive during such snowstorms as we frequently have in the mountains. Steller's jays, Oregon jays and ravens remain in the park. The Harris's and Gairdner's woodpeckers stay about our boundaries, while the red-breasted sapsucker seems more numerous in winter than in summer.

The dipper remains on the open streams, some of them taking a downward journey, while the kingfisher, near the boundaries, fishes for trout. No closed season for him! A flock of crossbills may appear any time, and flocks of pine siskins are in the treetops - sometimes the alder, sometimes the cedar. The sooty grouse has taken to the tree branches, while the ptarmigan, now in its winter garb and "snowshoes", simply drops down until it finds winter buds of the willow and alder. Cold and snow mean nothing to them.

So while the forests may be closed to us by snows and blizzards, we have certain birds, living in their own environment, that exist and thrive in their natural state throughout the long winter.

Food and Food Habits

To the birds, all this mountainous park is a natural food table, the source of supply coming from Nature's own resources. There are no fields of grain or stubble, no artificial flower gardens, berry patches or orchards to entice or feed them. They really live close to Nature by existing on the country's varied supply.

Food conditions change greatly with the seasons, both in variety and abundance. In spring and summer the green, coniferous forests attract the wood warblers, tanagers and jays to feed on insect diet among the higher branches. On the tree-trunks creepers, nuthatches and woodpeckers dine on bugs and larvae found hidden behind the bark. On, or near the moss-covered forest floor, western winter wrens, lutescent warblers and western flycatchers feed among the decaying roots or in low bushes.

In the deciduous growth along the rivers and streams, vireos, yellow and pileolated warblers and chickadees are busy searching through the broad green leaves, always singing, while russet-backed thrushes remain shyly secluded in the vine maple, also seeking an insect diet.

On the mountain meadows, robins are busy on the wet ground, sooty grouse have come down from coniferous trees, sparrows hunt and scratch through the grass, and mountain bluebirds and olive-sided flycatchers are feasting on the early insects of the air. Still higher up, the pipits are feeding on insects found on the snow, but rosy finches and ptarmigan add to this a heather seed diet.

Then in the fall, when nesting days are over and after the moulting period comes a change. Appetites improve and more activity is shown; many varieties are joining into flocks. Nesting localities that in spring were full of birdlife are now deserted and the birds move to other sections of the park. Migrants have to get into condition to withstand a long journey and resident birds have to put on fat in order to stand the winter climate.

So Nature, on "The Mountain", puts on a banquet greater than in all the surrounding country. Not only is it for the resident birds, but thousands that will come from the north and even from the country below.

To begin with, there is a change in the green forest. Cones have appeared on the trees, and crossbills end evening grosbeaks are now in the high branches. Many of the warblers and tanagers are leaving. The woodpeckers and nuthatches have come out in the open and resort to the bare silver forests. Even the lowly winter wren ascends to higher open country and finds a change of diet among the mountain-ash and other shrubs and bushes.

Warblers are passing through the open country, feeding in the alder as well as alpine trees. Sparrows and finches feast on the alpine flower seeds dropped from their pods.

Migrating hawks, passing over the open country of the north and east sides of the park, stay a week or more, feeding on the overabundance of ground squirrels and chipmunks, while the Clark's nutcrackers have forsaken the deserted camps and buildings, and are now on a sumptuous diet of pine seeds pecked from the ripening cones.

But the greatest feast of all is held on the huckleberry and mountain-ash slopes, truly a demonstration of "Plenty". The ripening fruit attracts birds by the thousands. They come from above and below. Band-tailed pigeons in large flocks come to gorge on the huckleberries at Sunset Park. Joining them are robins, flickers, bluebirds, thrushes and sparrows. The sooty grouse, their crops extended, hate even to fly. By their actions, the fermenting juices have a hilarious effect on many of the birds. Then comes the red mountain-ash berries that last until the leaves fall and the bushes are bare. Cold nights start migrations and finally Dame Nature spreads a white cloth over it all, closing the banquet hall for the year.

Nesting Dates

It is interesting to compare the nesting dates of birds in Mount Rainier National Park with the same varieties at Puget Sound near sea level. The following list is given for comparison:

From the above list it is seen that the birds on "The Mountain" nest one to two months later than at sea level on Puget Sound. Birds of the alpine meadows (5500 ft. or over) are a month later than at park boundaries (2000), the latter difference being caused chiefly by snow conditions.

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(1) Taylor and Shaw, Mammals and Birds of Mount Rainier National Park. National Park Service. 1927.

(2) Kitchin, E. A. "Distributional Cheek List of the birds of Washington". 1934.