Tuesday, June 02, 2009

And the answer is...


As a few of you have guessed this is indeed a female Bay-breasted Warbler.  While it may not be the best photo ever (forgive my simple canon point and shoot) it still shows plenty of features that make this a pretty straight forward ID as depicted on the photo.

A Blackpoll Warbler would be similar in size and shape but would look drastically different in the spring.  A fall bird may look similar but would show streaking... The female Bay-breasted does not show this streaking.  This bird is a 1st spring bird (coming out of 1st winter plumage) and is not quite yet an adult so it does not show a rufous wash on the flanks.  Therefore, as far as field guides go, it most closely matches the 1st winter female plumage as depicted in sibley.  

The lack of streaking, general greenish-yellow wash, the bright color on the sides of the neck, white around eye and the black eye line really add up here.  

Some birds guessed were:
Kinglet (which would have a much smaller bill, gray color, etc.)
Oriole (thicker bill, brownish neck, different shape, etc.)
Other Warblers (variety of easy reasons to eliminate the species suggested including a combination of  streaking, auricular color, tail length, etc.  )  

If you have questions about these - hollar away.  

Quiz birds will appear weekly on Tuesdays, answers will be given Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Suggestions/photos for quiz birds can be sent to: lowiequizbird@gmail.com.

Until then check back for year list updates and stories.

1 comment:

Dawn Fine said...

Great quiz...loved how you put together the answer..Perfect idea for all of us learning birders.