Subject: Re: 7 warbler species in Tofino
Date: Nov 03 11:35:04 1995
From: Jack Bowling - jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca


Don Cecile wrote -

>As of Oct. 30 there were still 5 species of Warblers present. In speaking
>with Adrian Dorst, who is the only one to see the Tennessee warbler, we
>appear to still be in doubt about its identity. Apparently the bird has
>yellow undertail coverts. My understanding is this has always eliminated
>Tennessee. He seems adament that the bird is not an Orange-crowned and
>has a grayish head, greenish back, broken eyering that is not very visible....
>I know of one case of cross-breeding between Nashville and Tennessee. I
>wonder if others have any idea what he might be looking at? He has taken
>photos and hopefully they will show something diagnostic. Unfortunately for
>me, the bird will likely be gone by the weekend. I certainly enjoy looking at
>oddities.

Adrian is hardly ever wrong but... Alvaro is right. Tennessees never
have yellow undertail coverts. Some autumn immatures are very bright
yellow underneath but it never extends onto the ut coverts. A bunch of
us in P.G. here on Sep. 4th were foxed by a similar sounding bird:
finally ID'ed it as a very gray _celata_ Orange-crowned, much grayer
than the breeders of the local area. A possibility. Another good
discriminator is the bill shape. O-C bill is ever so slightly
downcurved and wider at the base than a Tennessee which has the
quintessential straight, thin wood-warbler bill.

>In response to Jack Bowling's comment re: Tofino as a vagrant/migrant trap:
>I have birded this area for 4 years now and there is no question that this
>is not merely a coincidence that Tofino turns up rarities and oddities. Not
>only does it turn up unusual birds but it is also an area that is seriously
>underbirded!

Yes, indeed, it is underbirded. Has something to do with the
attraction of the Long Beach area pulling birders away from Tofino, I
reckon. Re. Al's post about migrant/vagrant traps: I agree, but I am
having a hard time trying to figure out just what the determining
factors would be viz-a-viz migrant and vagrant traps. However, I would
suggest that the whole Long Beach area itself is a candidate for
migrant trap status; witness the gazillion Golden-crowned Sparrows and
Orange-crowned Warblers there during the BCFO AGM held there the first
week of April a couple of years ago. Note that the low stratus
ceilings were a definite concentrator, but the birds had to be moving
through in great numbers to begin with. The question then becomes:
what is the attraction for *vagrants* to the area. And is there
anything in particular about the town of Tofino in regards to food
sources, etc. Cape St. James at the south end of the Queen Charlottes
happens to fit both definitions. Its position at the south end of the
archipelago likely has a lot to do with that. An interesting topic.

- Jack






Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
CANADA
jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca