Hi Richard;
Is winter here in Tacoma,we havingSnow here now I reply of you queston to
the Hutton's Vireo in winter. there around some places, especially in mixed
decidious and coniforous forestsand in alder or madrona goves in loose
mixed flocks of chickadees and kinglets in the fall and winter and singly
the rest of the year. They can be easily detected by there larger size,
paler underparts, partial eyering, thicker bill and broader white wingbars
than the similiar Ruby-crowned Kinglet. There song and call is also quite
distinctive, ifyour fortunate to hear them.3 Hutton's Vireos were recorded
on the Tacoma CBC, where we normally on average get 3-5 birds, so I believe
the can be overlooked and are probably more common than people assume,
providing your in the appropriate habitat.Eugene Hunn mention madrone mixed
Woodlands, thi is true.
Patrick
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net

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> From: PAGODROMA <PAGODROMA at aol.com>
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: Hutton's Vireo -- Sammamish Plateau
> Date: Saturday, January 10, 1998 10:17 AM
>
> I took a short mid-day exploratory stroll on Friday (09Jan) in an area
'new'
> to me up on the Sammamish Plateau, just up the slope from the Hal Jensen
Youth
> Camping area, Lake Sammamish State Park, near Issaquah. There amongst a
> roving flock of chickadees, bushtits, kinglets, and a couple of Brown
> Creepers, I observed a most accommodating Hutton's Vireo.
>
> The Hutton's Vireo superficially resembles a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, except
is
> slightly more robust, with a heavier 'vireo' bill, distinct and
diagnostic
> broad pale lores and broken eye-ring, and much more sluggish habits. The
> habitat here consisted of primarily Douglas Fir and cedar with a
sprinkling of
> deciduous trees (Red Alder and Broadleaf Maple?).
>
> What exactly is the winter status of Hutton's Vireo around here,
especially in
> the eastern urban Seattle area? Supposedly and according to the
literature I
> currently have (Hunn, Whal & Paulson, Jewett et.al., and Campbell et.al.)
it
> is an uncommon 'permanent' resident in Western Washington and extreme SW
BC.
> However, I so seldom encounter one, and until yesterday, had seen this
species
> locally in King County only at Discovery Park, Seattle. Are they at all
> migratory in the PacNW and any less common around these parts than in the
> Spring/Summer, as if to suggest from my meager experience that they are
even
> any more common? For some reason, even when I'm in areas in coastal
central
> California where the species is fairly common, it's distinctive call is
still
> subtle enough that unless I'm really paying attention, I can miss it
> altogether. I am seldom around here when the Hutton's Vireo is most
likely
> vocal so can't really include a fair analysis in my mental data base.
Maybe
> their distribution is just very local? Any sense of a decline (or
increase)
> in numbers from say 10, 20, or more years ago or is it about the same?
>
> The Hutton's Vireo is so quiet and unobtrusive, it can be easily
overlooked or
> even carelessly passed over and off as a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
Connecting the
> Hutton's Vireo to the recent Tweeters discussion on wintering Townsend's
> Warblers, I've probably had ten Townsend's encounters to every single
Hutton's
> around western Washington in the winter. Or, maybe I'm just overlooking
them
> too for as easy as this could seem to be while everyone else sees
Hutton's all
> the time and dismiss them as no big deal. The rather mundane
non-descript
> Hutton's Vireo isn't exactly the most eye-catching and talked-about
Washington
> bird species of all time and I don't think I've ever even seen this
species
> mentioned at all during the intermittant periods that I've been active on
or
> monitoring Tweeters.
>
> In case this might be important, the exact location of the Hutton's Vireo
was
> 0.3 miles east of East Lake Sammamish Parkway SE along SE 43 Way. There
are
> are two little gated driveways on the south side of SE 43 Way which
access
> land owned by either the County or the State (LSSP), one which leads a
few
> paces to a stinky sewage treatment facility, the other to an obvious
gravel
> road/trail which is actually an old railway bed and continues east for
about a
> mile or a little less where you eventually emerge into one of those
> encroaching controversial expensive housing projects on the Sammamish
Plateau.
> The Hutton's Vireo was seen about 2/3 the way to the housing project
(walking
> maybe a half-mile). If anyone goes there, the driveway parking spots are
on a
> kind of 'blind' curve on busy SE 43 Way, so be especially careful when
leaving
> and pulling back on the road.
>
> Hugh Jennings; are there any (or many) records of Hutton's Vireo recorded
on
> ELWAS CBC's?
>
> Richard Rowlett (Pagodroma at aol.com)
> 47.56N, 122.13W
> (Seattle/Bellevue, WA USA)
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