We added three species to our Cowlitz year list in the last two months, (Surf Scoter, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Pacific Loon) all of them being code 4. These codes are a way of determining the likelihood of finding a particular species and relate to the color of the square in the column immediately after the species name in the attached list.
- Code 1 - Blue - You should find this species in appropriate habitat at the correct time of year.
- Code 2 - Green - More difficult to find, but should be found in appropriate habitat in correct season with some effort.
- Code 3 - Yellow - Recorded in the county annually, but you may or may not find one personally even with great effort.
- Code 4 - Orange - Five or more records of the species in the county, but does not occur every year.
- Code 5 - Red - At least one, but less than five records within the county.
- White - This species occurs on the Washington list, but has never been recorded in Cowlitz County.
Lets hope this makes the list more meaningful to some and one purpose of this project is to update these codes occasionally, usually in early January.
To obtain a checklist of the birds found in any county in Washington with the code numbers go to wabirder.com and click on checklists on the left side of the page. There you scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the desired county on the map and get a list that you can print out.
Download the pdf here.