In response to Joel's questions:
Photos taken at 7:56 am June 29th, 2015 at La Center Bottoms, La Center, WA.
Nice sunny day. Stopped here for my favorite pastime (birding) on the way to
Longview.
Even though it was far away, I took these photos because the bird did not look
familiar and thought I could use them later for ID help if needed. I originally
was thinking green-tailed towhee, but rejected that after checking pictures in
my Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America. Then considered Tennessee and
Nashville Warbler but too many differences for those as well.
Description: 3-4" long greenish yellow tail, bird looked to be 8-10" in length
total but hard to tell because of distance. Bluish gray from top of head to
tail and sides, slightly darker wings. Some greenish yellow on back. White
face, lower neck and body. Gray beak. No distinct markings on face or wings
that I could make out.
The bush was in a tall grassy meadow about 50 yards from the trail.
It took me so long to post these photos because I've only recently joined the
OBOL website and I had forgotten about them until looking through old photos
this evening. This is actually my first posting. Didn't realize it would be
such a stumper.
Thank you all for your help.
Glen
Subject: Re: [obol] Re: Green tail ID help
From: jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2015 20:56:30 -0800
CC: gtaylor22@xxxxxxxxxxx; obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: whoffman@xxxxxxxx
On Nov 1, 2015, at 8:44 PM, whoffman@xxxxxxxx wrote:Hi - I'll begin by stating
that personally I think the suggestion this is a hoax is highly impolite and
uncalled for.
Since you are linking my comments, please note that I suggested that it might
be a "joke". We have had jokes before on OBOL, particularly around April 1.
Here are some thoughts toward an i.d.:1. What is the bush (and therefore how
big are the leaves?) The branching pattern and appearance of the bark reminds
me of Twinberry, or possibly the landscaping shrub Wygelia. Most of the
valley-bottom dogwoods have straighter shoots. I cannot think of a shrub
looking like this with small enough leaves to make the bird mockingbird sized.
Twinberry occurred to me. Twinberry has fruit that goes from black to red when
ripe. At least one photo shows a single blue fruit on the bush. I wonder
what the white grass is?
2. The pictures look like they were taken midday in bright sun. The color of
the larger stems looks really washed out which makes me unwilling to trust the
color of the bird's back. It could be grayish rather than blue.
It could be.
3. So what warblers and warbler-sized birds have green or olive-colored tails?
I came up with 3 that IMO are not too too far from looking like this bird: One
thing to remember is that by 29 June there might be HY warblers around in the
seldom-illustrated juvenal plumage, which is generally lost within a month or
two, and which can be quite confusing. Common Yellowthroat, MacGillivray's
Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, and my favorite, Nashville Warbler. In the photos
with the head turned to the left, the color of the lower part of the face does
remind me of a young or female yellowthroat, but not much of the rest of the
bird looks right.
I don't think the white face matches any of our warblers at any age.
Jeff Gilligan
I do not have a good sense of the variation in juv. MacGillivray's, but it
would be good to hear from someone who works with them?The main problem with
Nashville Warbler is the apparent lack of an eyering, but the photos most
likely to show that have a twig across the face.Anyway my two centsWayne
From: "glen" <gtaylor22@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Jeff Gilligan" <jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "obol" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, November 1, 2015 7:55:32 PM
Subject: [obol] Re: Green tail ID help
Not a joke, I'm the one who had a brain freeze and just tonight uploaded these
photos. Taken in La Center, WA. Just uploaded all five photos I took. Here's a
link to a pic of the entire bush:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95273919@N05/22670767486/in/dateposted-public/
Didn't look like any common yellowthroat I've ever seen. As you can see the
tail moves with the bird. Glad I'm not the only one who was stumped. Just wish
I had better quality photos and details.
Thanks,Glen Taylor
Subject: Re: [obol] Green tail ID help
From: jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2015 19:07:27 -0800
CC: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: gtaylor22@xxxxxxxxxxx
I have no idea what that is….Am I having a brain freeze? What I see is a
rather bright green tail, some blue on the wing, a back and crown that are dull
greenish with indistinct streaks, and a white face and throat, a white ventral
area, a dark eye, and a fairly thin bill.
I also don't recognize the vegetation.
Where is La Center Bottoms? Near La Center, Washington? or somewhere exotic?
Are you playing a little joke on OBOL?
Jeff Gilligan
On Nov 1, 2015, at 6:30 PM, glen <gtaylor22@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I took this photo on June 29th at La Center Bottoms. Sorry, not great quality.
This bird was low in the bush (maybe 2' above the ground) at the extreme range
of my lens. Watched it for about 30 seconds, most of the time with its back to
me, when its twin joined it, coming up from below for about 5 seconds. Then
they both flew into the grass underneath the bush, not to be seen again. Long
green tail, bluish gray back from top of head to tail, darker on wings,
completely white neck and underneath. Gray bill, black eye. Hard to tell if
there was any eyebrow or markings around eye. Please see link below for pic:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95273919@N05/22071545334/in/dateposted-public/
I'm an avid but novice birder so any help with identification would be most
appreciated.
Thanks,
Glen TaylorNewberg
