[Bristol-Birds] This is the Mystery Bird

From: "Roger Mayhorn" <mayhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol Birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 08:20:08 -0400

Hi All,
Thanks to the 40 of you who sent me your take on the ID of the mystery bird, 
and to those of you who didn't send in your ID choice, but who think you know 
what it was.
The general consensus of the group is that the bird is a 1st year Prairie 
Warbler, and I have to agree with that. 
To me the last photo of the group is the one that really gives it away. 
http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/image/85199862  The dark semi-circle under the eye 
that forms a part of the auricular (facial patch) is typical of a Prairie, 
along with the broken eye-ring and the gray behind the eye. The clincher for me 
was the light horizontal stripe (all of the stripes on this bird are light) 
that projects toward the bird's throat from the olive-colored side of the neck. 
 This stripe is not readily apparent on this bird but on adult birds is 
normally black and really stands out.

For those who nailed the ID, congratulations! For those who didn't, I have to 
admit that I also initially did not think it was a Prairie until I had a good 
look at my photos.

Here is the way the ID's and the numbers fell

Prairie Warbler  22
Yellow Warbler 4
Pine Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1
Mourning Warbler 1
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Tennessee-Orange-crowned-Prairie Hybrid, or a female Bachman's Warbler that has 
been lost for 50 years 1 (I really enjoyed that one) 

Now you will have to excuse me. I see some more warblers outside that I have to 
go photograph.

Thanks, 

Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
Buchanan County, VA

[Bristol-Birds] This is the Mystery Bird

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