I was one of the people who voted for MacGillivay's Warbler, but after
seeing the bird today and looking at my pictures, I'm changing my vote to
Orange-crowned. Here are my reasons, and there are links to my pictures (sorry
about the quality, the light was poor) below.


Looking at my three field guides, I can see evidence both ways, but I guess
I think the weight of the evidence is for Orange-crowned. Under
MacGillivray's Warbler, Peterson says "Some Orange-crowned Warblers also have
grayish head contrasting with olivey yellow body and pale, broken eye-ring; but
they are shaped and behave differently, are duller yellow, AND HAVE BLURRY
BREAST STREAKS."

The drawings and pictures of MacGillivray's Warblers in my field guides
don't show blurry breast streaks, and this bird definitely does. As for the
shape of the bird, this bird looks kind of long and lean, like
Orange-crowned Warblers, not short and plump like the images of MacGillivray's in the
field guides.

Orange-crowned Warblers are known for their yellow undertail coverts, too,
which this bird certainly has.

On the other hand, the bill on this bird does look more like a
MacGillivray's I'd say, although the lower half of the bill isn't as orange as what
the field guides show for MacGillivray's. The leg color looks more like
MacGillivray's, too, to my eye.

So, there is evidence both ways, but the blurry breast streaks and
Peterson's comment that some Orange-crowned Warblers have grayish heads are the
most persuasive things to me. In one of my pictures, it looks like there are
some yellow feathers on top of the head, too, and that is more like
Orange-crowned, I think. I think I will call it an Orange-crowned for now, but I
will be interested to hear what other people think, and their reasons.

http://barry15.com/2014_Birding_Reports/Warbler/7593_Warbler_front_view.JPG

http://barry15.com/2014_Birding_Reports/Warbler/7597_Warbler_three-quarter_v
iew.JPG

http://barry15.com/2014_Birding_Reports/Warbler/7602_Warbler_side_view.JPG

http://barry15.com/2014_Birding_Reports/Warbler/7621_Warbler.JPG

I would be happy to be convinced otherwise, but that is my inexpert view at
this time.

Barry Brugman
Kirkland




In a message dated 2/11/2014 4:22:33 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
barbdeihl at comcast.net writes:

3/4 of you who responded seemed confident that this is a MacGillivray's
Warbler - 1/4 said Orange-crowned and, this just in - one vote for Palm
Warbler ! And one person suggested making a tasty tea out of.....the Turkey
Tail fungus (or did his descriptor "good" just mean good for you?) !


Features noted that seemed to confirm the MacGillivray's ID:
grayish hood
eye "arcs" (incomplete eye-ring)
bright yellow undertail coverts
longer bill than an OC
light bottom bill
pinkish legs


*Dennis P says it is a gray-headed sub-species of an Orange-crowned
Warbler that breeds in Alaska and winters in the East. He added that
MacGillivray's are yellow below, not yellow-green and their gray hood "just doesn't
look like" this one's ! And he added that, as this bird's hood seems grayer
than most he's seen, it is likely a first-year bird, but will take a look
at Birds of N.A. online to decide for certain.


Thanks to the following for responding to my query and adding to the
fervor of the sleuthing:
Brien M, Tom T, James R-H, Carol R, Michael H, Mike H, Barry B, Brett W,
Barry L, Ann-Marie W, Twink C, Greg A, Amy S, Jack N & Dennis P.


This has been a fun exercise - I was hoping we are seeing a
MacGillivray's, but at least it is a rare wintering Orange-crowned subspecies...UNLESS
some of the visitors' photos show it sporting different traits than mine
do... :-)


Again, you're most welcome to come over to try to see the warbler - a
couple of hours of successful, on & off viewing around noon today. The warbler
appeared and disappeared maybe a half-dozen times. Also, the once-mystery
warbler has adopted a new technique for eating the bark butter - it digs
out a little chunk and flies off with it to eat - the butter is softer today,
so maybe that works better for it - or did it learn this technique from
the nuthatches? :-) When the most recent visitor and I spotted the warbler
around 2:45 this afternoon, the undersides looked pretty yellowish, but of
course it was likely the lighting - everything else was so dark, the colors
of the bird stood out more in contrast.


Other birds that we saw/heard in or near the yard today, included:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow, Bewick's Wren,
Townsend's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, Anna's
Hummingbird, Band-tailed Pigeon, Steller's Jay, American Crow, American
Robin, Black- and Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Varied Thrush (heard), Bushtit,
Northern Flicker, Cooper's Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker (heard), Eastern Gray
Squirrelbird, Black & White-crowned Cat(bird) and lastly, a Great Metallic
Heron!


Good Warbling !




Barb Deihl


North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle


_barbdeihl at comcast.net_ (mailto:barbdeihl at comcast.net)

















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