It has been mainly been in low trees and bushes in the understory and I have
seen it in some very low bushes less then 1 foot off the ground foraging, as
well as it uses the fence line in my yard around those bushes and trees, the
highest I have seen it is maybe 8-9 feet roughly.
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 1, 2020, at 7:52 PM, Robert O'Brien <baro@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Has this bird ever been seen foraging on the ground? Hooded warblers are
primarily near-ground feeding warblers while Wilson's also feeds in the
understory it typically doesn't feed on the ground as hooded often does. Now
in migration hooded warbler might be expected to be higher. But this bird
apparently has been there for quite a few days and you would expect to see it
forging on and near the ground at some point. Bob O'Brien
On Wednesday, April 1, 2020, Philip Kline <pgeorgekline@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
One more observation on this bird. The pattern of lighter yellow appears
different on each side of the head with the prominent line behind the eye
only clearly visible on the left side and more yellow visible in the cheek
on the left side. These differing patterns appear consistent between
different pics.
Philip
On Wed, Apr 1, 2020, 6:05 PM Tom McNamara <tmcmac67@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi all,
Quite the interesting bird, an incongruous Mr. Potatohead bird with
features stuck randomly together all signifying ..? I'm inclined to think
there is some sort of hybridization at play here. I think the bill looks,
long-ish and very pointy, is good for Orange-crowned as is the dull
streaking on the underparts, the little whitish patch between the legs,
and the color of the undertail coverts the proportion to their tail
retrices and the seeming dark undertail (that first picture seemed to show
whitish undertail and Tye has mentioned white flashes seen in the tail).
The leg color of normal-pigmented OC is darkish and this bird's is
pinkish-organge-ish...
For Hooded Warbler, the bill seems wrong--they have an all around more
hefty, black and dull-at-the-tip bill. The cheek pattern seems somewhat
suggestive of this species and if the undertail is indeed white
then....hmmm.
I agree with Jeff. G that the bill seems wrong for a pure Wilson's ---too
long and pointy. The crown, though, looks pretty good and the color of the
legs is in range of Wilson's. Then again, the plumage on the belly/lower
breast doesn't seem good for pure Wilson's either.
So, I think you put some different-species-of-warbler genes (those 3 sp.)
in a pot and stir. Thanks for sharing, Tye.
good birding and puzzling all, Tom
On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 5:26 PM <whoffman@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi -
At this point I think both pigment-challenged Orange-crowned and
Orange-crowned X Wilson's seem to be viable possibilities.
To address your comment Phil,
"I'm not sure any hybrid combo can explain that leg and foot color."
Most commonly, hybrid birds show plumage characters intermediate between
their parents, and/or a mix of parental characters. However, it is not
that rare to see hybriids that show features not present in either parent.
This is particularly well-known in waterfowl, but also has been seen in
other groups. The illustrations in Reeber's "Waterfowl of North America,
Europe, and Asia" show quite a few of these.
Among dabbling ducks, lots of hybrids show a green patch around the eye
like an American Wigeon (e.g. some Brewer's Ducks [Gadwall X Mallard],
Shoveler X Gadwall, Pintail X Gadwall). Others have face patterns
resembling Baikal Teal (e.g. N. Pintail X Eurasian [Common] Teal,
Green-winged Teal X Blue-winged Teal).
The best explanation I have seen is that these are ancestral patterns, and
the modern species still have the genetic coding for them, but it has been
suppressed or masked, and in the hybrids the masking or suppression is
disrupted.
So back to leg and foot color: Hybrids could easily have the genetic
control of soft-parts pigment disrupted.
Wayne
From: "Philip Kline" <pgeorgekline@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Jeff Gilligan" <jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "dmarc-noreply" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "obol"
<obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2020 7:50:59 PM
Subject: [obol] Re: A couple more strange warbler pics
I'm not sure any hybrid combo can explain that leg and foot color.
On Wed, Apr 1, 2020, 4:38 PM Jeff Gilligan <jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Or Orange-crowned x Wilson’s
Jeff Gilligan
On Apr 1, 2020, at 4:32 PM, Philip Kline <pgeorgekline@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Colby Neuman is not on obol but suggested this might be an orange-crowned
warbler with pigment issues. The more pics I see the more I agree that
the strange head pattern on this bird is a result of a patchy
pigmentation deficiency of some sort. Might explain thos bright orange
legs too.
On Wed, Apr 1, 2020, 4:18 PM Tye Jeske <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Just a couple more pics a took this afternoon.
Sent from my iPhone