The three yellow-throated vireos at Welchester are very unlikely for several reasons. First, 3 together in one location in Colorado would be unprecedented. This does mean it cannot happen, but great care should be taken to be absolutely positive about the identification. Yellow-throated vireos along with most other vireos are not sexually dimorphic. This means males and females have the same plumage and are not separable in the field. Young birds attain full adult plumage very early in their life. Finally most passerines have the adult male generally migrate south before the females and young and return north in the spring prior to females to establish territories. Females are next to leave followed finally by young birds. It would be nearly unfathomable for adult birds and first year birds to reestablish contact on the wintering grounds and then return north as a family group. Without photos of each of the three birds, this sighting would not pass muster with experienced birders.
Norm Erthal Arvada, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/bc854cde-8ff2-42ae-ba4e-13a10d78d65b%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
