Erika and I noticed these Yellow-rumped Warblers on 24 February 2022 on the Billy Frank Jr Nationwide Wildlife Refuge. Once we moved to Olympia, we didn’t anticipate to see each races of this fowl—the white-throated Myrtle Warbler and the yellow-throated Audubon’s Warbler. We’ve got all the time considered the Myrtle Warbler as an jap fowl, whereas Audubon’s are western. This assumption is principally right, however the Myrtle Warbler does breed in Alaska and northern British Columbia. Thus the 2 races do happen north of us right here in Washington and could be anticipated emigrate by the state.
Though the 2 races interbreed within the restricted areas the place they overlap, ornithologists nonetheless argue in the event that they signify one or two species. The Audubon Society writes: “Regardless that the white-throated Myrtle and yellow-throated Audubon’s varieties interbreed the place they meet, they’re very distinct genetically all through the remainder of their vary. The proof suggests that every is a full species.” The American Ornithological Society’s Guidelines Committee has but to agree.
