Hello, Birders. Thanks to Becca Reid for posting the great photos of the vireo at Crow Valley Campground, Weld County, Sunday, Sept. 12th. I commend Becca for getting the great photos out there, and for inviting folks to to offer their assessments of the photos.
I'm pretty sure this bird is a Warbling Vireo, and in particular, a Warbling Vireo of the distinctive "Western" (swainsoni) population. Key marks, shown nicely on all of Becca's photos, are the nearly white breast and throat and the pale lores--good distinction between Philadelphia and all Warbling vireos. The nice contrast between the dark cap and the prominent supercilium point toward the "Western" population of Warbling Vireos. I point out here that Philadelphia Vireo can be a very tricky bird to identify in the fall! Some Warbling Vireos can actually look a lot *more* like Philadelphias than is the case with the bird in Becca's photos. I know I've sure been tripped up on birds that I thought were going to be Philadelphias--until I got that that better, second look, and/or had the chance to examine high-resolution digital photos. Something else to consider is that Philadelphia is exceedingly rare--probably accidental--in Colorado in the fall. Consider the following: The species' fall migration route is substantially more easterly than its spring migration route. The bulk of the birds in fall, then, should be in places like New York and New Jersey. And consider this: Even in places like NY & NJ, birders get pretty jazzed about Philadelphias. It's just an uncommon bird, period, and all reports from Colorado should be well scrutinized. Thanks again to Becca for posting these great photos. We can all learn a lot by discussing reports of rare birds--ideally, those backed up with excellent photos, like Becca's--reported from Colorado. It's infinitely more satisfying and educational than reading something like, "Went to Crow Valley, refound the Philly Vireo. Good Birding, --Jack Birder." ------------------------------- Ted Floyd Editor, Birding Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine ------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
