[texbirds] Flame-colored Tanager (probable hybrid?)
- From: Arman Moreno <armanmoreno@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 13 May 2014 22:39:18 -0500
All:
I just returned from a few days at Big Bend National Park and wanted to
share a particular sighting with you. Yesterday, while hiking the Pinnacles
Trail, I located a tanager that looks an awful lot like Flame-colored. The
bird was high up in a dead tree just to the right side of the trail past
the ranger's cabin on the way to the South Rim (just south of the Colima
Trail turnoff) but just north of where the creek bed is.
I watched a male Western Tanager fly in, which was exhibiting a threatened
posture (wings fluttering and body flat and low). I also noticed another
tanager in another tree and figured it was Hepatic. When I put my bins on
it, the bird was not the right color and had dark wing coverts similar to
Western. However in addition to the color, the facial pattern didn't seem
right. While the bird lacked a lot of the black facial markings
characteristic of FCTA, the auriculars are pale (similar to Hepatic and
FCTA).
I watched the bird for about 10 seconds and fired off shots but never got a
good look at the tail or back coloration as the bird was some 25-30 feet
above me. I've attached a link to the pics below.
I am aware that FCTA was spotted in the same area last year and likely
produced hybrid offspring with the WETA it was in association with. My
immediate impression having never seen this species was that this is likely
a hybrid, given the lack of black on the face but perhaps others with more
experience may have encountered younger individuals lacking this field
mark.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/armanmoreno/13995365328/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/armanmoreno/14182018105/
Best,
Arman Moreno
Austin, TX
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- » [texbirds] Flame-colored Tanager (probable hybrid?) - Arman Moreno
