This little guy had us going today. Here is the evolution of a questionable ID:
Sally had seen an Orange-crowned Warbler off the big parking lot in Aquinnah, at the western end of Martha’s Vineyard, adjacent to the Gay Head cliffs. The sky had been full of accipiters all morning, mostly Coopers Hawks. After I joined her, we were looking at a skulking immature Yellowthroat, quite pale and with no prominent markings at all. This Tennessee Warbler was the next in line; and we were boggled for a while. Sally was actually pushing for Tennessee, while I was trying to make it an Orange-crowned in very pale attire with almost zero evidence of side stripage. I had seen pale yellow in the under-tail coverts, so I thought that ruled out Tennessee. Turns out it does not, though in a female Tennessee the under tail has more of a pale yellow wash over the normal white of other plumages. Also, I thought the beak would appear sharper than this in a Tennessee. Seeing the beak detail requires quite a bit of teary-eyed gawking to confirm and really only became clear in the photos. Even though this bird had virtually zilch for wingbars, sort of a warbler beak and quite a short tail, I also had Bell’s Vireo sloshing around as a distant possibility.
To confuse matters, just a bit later we had two washed-out Pine Warblers and a Blackpoll to contend with. It was really the round little Tennessee that threw us.
All that having been said – and I hope you will forgive the apparent ruse - this identification, with thanks to some third party intervention, needs to turn another corner to disclose what this bird really is, a Warbling Vireo, a young and very yellow Warbling Vireo, possibly western in origin. Too bad I only looked at the Bell’s Vireo in Sibley’s (page 345), when right over on the opposite page is a Warbling Vireo which looks amazingly like the bird in the photos below.
Everybody satisfied? Well, not really. Please read the comments below. All in all eight birders wieghed in by email on this ID question. Not about any warbler, that’s over, but whether this bird is a Warbling or a Philadelphia Vireo. Initially, the opinions were divided about evenly between Warbling and Philly V. After a few hours of e-discussion the vast majority now favors, as do I, calling this a Philly Vireo.
And so it goes. The savage journey,etc.
Birds are cool! Lanny
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Warren Woessner 10.08.08 at 3:59 pm
hi Lanny: Super photos. Well it is not an Orange-crowned, that’s for sure. At least out here, the fall oc’s are army olive drab and very blurrily streaked on the breast. They are very uniform and very dark., often like “adult male’ in Sibley. Are you SURE it is not a Phila. vireo? All that white around the eye, coupled with the pale lemon yellow undersides and the gray cap…..and look how dark the lores look in the first photo
Warren
Lanny McDowell 10.09.08 at 6:37 am
Gee, Warren, you may be may be right on the money. It sure looks like all the features you mentioned are there, up close and personal. I would point out in addition the gray cap contrasting with the back, the dark remiges, which Sally pointed out on site, plus the fact that there is so much color variety overall, including yellow on the breast.
When my friend, who knows his stuff, called and emailed to say this bird was a Warbling Vireo, I went straight to Sibley’s and saw the Warbling and said Yup, that’s it. Now that conclusion seems hasty, to say the least. Thanks for your vigilance. I will see if anyone else weighs in in defense of Warbling, but I doubt it.
Lan
Norman Famous 10.14.08 at 2:52 pm
Hi Lanny,
I am a little late responding to this email. Tennessee warbler bill’s are somewhat adapted for nectar feeding during their tropical winters. Apparently,nectar is a major component of their winter diets. It is hard to tell from the field guides if their bills are shapted significantly different from most warblers (I have not checked too many guides).
Norm