[obol] Re: Cascade Head 5/31
- From: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- To: OBOL Oregon Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 31 May 2013 18:01:43 +0000
Phil et al.,
There has been some "off air" discussion of the issues with dull Cassin's
Vireos being potentially mistaken for Plumbeous Vireos. Based on your
description, I suspect that your bird was a Cassin's. The fact that it "lacked
the hooded look of a Cassin's" points away from it being a Plumbeous in my
opinion. If anything, Plumbeous Vireos have a more sharply demarcated
transition from white throat to the dark gray auriculars and hood, which
accentuates the hooded effect. Something else to look at is bill size.
Plumbeous Vireos have a longer and perhaps thicker bill than Cassin's. Finally,
an important thing to remember about Cassin's (and other vireos) is that they
molt but once a year in the Fall, thus they are at their brightest in fall and
worn and dull in the Spring.
Despite being well-aware that Cassin's can be really dull in Spring, twice in
recent years I have seen dull spring Cassin's in shaded conditions that really
had me going thinking that they might be Plumbeous. In one case, photos
revealed color that I wasn't seeing and in the other (a bird seen by me,
Shawneen Finnegan, David Fix, and Jude Power at Fields) the bird finally came
out into open sunlight and it showed color that we could not see when it was in
the shade. Despite the seemingly annual reports (most without much
documentation), I believe that Plumbeous Vireo is an extremely rare bird in
Oregon. As I told the group in our off air discussion, I would personally be
very reluctant to fully claim a Plumbeous Vireo in Oregon unless I had
convincing photos to back it up.
Nice find on the redstart. I didn't look at the weather, were there easterly
winds overnight?
Dave Irons
> From: philliplc@xxxxxxxxxxx
> To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [obol] Cascade Head 5/31
> Date: Fri, 31 May 2013 10:25:32 -0700
>
> meadow 5:30-8:30 AM:
>
> 1 AMERICAN REDSTART (5th in spring,
> all first year males)
> 23 Black Swift (all 6-7 AM over the top)
> 140 Vaux's Swift (small flocks N)
> 1 Purple Martin (transient adult female N
> seen at 800 feet, odd timing/location)
> 400+ Red Crossbill (trending N)
> 150 Cedar Waxwing (N)
> 50+ Yellow Warbler (only saw females)
> 30+ Wilson's (influx mostly in one strung
> out flock working the cliff rim)
> 1 MacGillivray's
> small numbers Pewee, Tanager, Grosbeak
>
> +1 uncooperative Plumbeous Vireo candidate,
> seemed to lack all color and the hooded look of
> Cassin's, but was staying in shade so hard to
> feel confident. Definitely different, duller bird
> than seen yesterday.
>
> only 8 Western Canada Geese and 5 of
> those were headed south
>
> Interesting that Rufous Hummers have been
> decidedly scarce in the meadow the last 2
> mornings where normally they are thick.
> Just speculation but perhaps a late or poor
> bloom season due to persistent poor weather
> is at least partially responsible for the current
> barrage at feeders.
>
> Phil
>
>
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