Hi Bill et al.: The bird in question is undoubtedly an Orange-crowned Warbler, for the following reasons:
1) it has a dark eyeline behind the eye; 2) the eye ring is broken into eye arcs (the extensiveness of the eye arcs is probably due to photographic effect); 3) the flanks are gray with a suggestion of olive streaking; 4) the tail:underail covert ratio is too long for Nashville and just right for Orange-crowned (that is, Orange-crowned's tail is longer relative to its undertail coverts, producing an effect of more tail beyond the undertail coverts than shown by Nashville; check out Plate 32 in the Peterson Warblers guide and the appropriate illustrations in The Sibley Guide); and 5) both of its parents were Orange-crowned Warblers; I know them personally. :-) Tony Leukering Villas, NJ Topic: Nashville or Orange crowned warbler? (pictures) kickback <[email protected]> Oct 18 08:00PM -0700 ^ I posted a warbler picture on Saturday and have received a variety of comments about whether it is an Orange crowned or Nashville warbler. I saw it at Chico ranch on Saturday in the banding area. The various responders have sent me these comments: Reasons why it is an orange crowned warbler 1. The the eye ring is broken and there is no sharp demarcation between hood and throat area , in fact the color of the hood is not completely gray at all but mix of olive-yellow and gray 2. Eye-archs vs. complete eye-ring is better for Orange-crowned, as are the overall colors. I'm not seeing much of a contrast between the gray head and bright yellow throat. Reasons why it is a Nashville warbler 1. The eye ring is just right for a Nashville Warbler and not an Orange-crowned. I can't tell a lot about the rest of the head, which should be grayish, and it should show a yellow throat as well. 2.The eye-ring does appear imperfect, however is too white and contrasty;the fairly sharp demarcation between gray cheek/malar and the very yellow throat is a feature I've never seen on even the most gray-headed, yellow-bellied Orange-crowneds. In short, the face simply doesn't have the look of an Orange-crowned. It also seems to be lacking the diffuse streaking below that Orange-crowneds typically have. Complete set of pictures http://avoapples.com/birds/IMG_3151_4x6.jpg http://avoapples.com/birds/IMG_3152_4x6.jpg http://avoapples.com/birds/IMG_3153_4x6.jpg http://avoapples.com/birds/IMG_3156_4x6.jpg http://avoapples.com/birds/IMG_3158_4x6.jpg Thanks for any additional comments Bill Kosar [email protected] Colorado Springs -- 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.
