Joey:
Given a view of the back, Blackburnian is actually fairly easy to differentiate
from similar-looking species by the white or whitish "braces" -- those streaks
of contrasting pale near the sides of the back. However, your major concern
with identifying Townsend's Warbler (TOWA; note the lack of an "h") is
differentiating from Black-throated Green Warbler (BTNW). One of the obvious
differences between TOWA and BTNW is the latter's yellow-green vent strap (a
complete or not-so-complete band extending from flank through vent to flank),
so nicely illustrated in your first picture. An additional concern with these
two species is that they are known to hybridize, and Colorado has at least two
records of such. I am a little concerned by the apparent darkness of the rear
corner of your bird's auricular patch (which might suggest TOWA genes), but
that could be a posture or photographic effect.
For the Empidonax, I would guess that the bird's long primary projection and
relatively shortish tail suggest Hammond's, a very different look than that of
Dusky (short primary projection, long tail) and a somewhat different look than
that of Least (short primary projection, shortish tail).
The vireo is, indeed, a Cassin's, as suggested by the overall greenish
coloration and the dull interface of throat and auriculars; Blue-headed would
have a bright white throat sharply and strongly contrasting with the auriculars.
Enjoy,
Tony Leukering
currently Cut Bank, MT
Need ID Help from Crow Valley (Weld County)
Joey Angstman <[email protected]>: Sep 06 07:55PM -0700
Hi,
My friend (Dan Horton) and I visited Crow Valley on Monday to see if we
could find migrants that are coming through. We did in fact find some
birds, but also realized we have don't know what they are. We were able to
narrow it down a little bit, but definitely need some help with a couple
birds. Please check out the posted pictures and let us know if we were on
the right track.
What we think we had:
1) Townshend's Warbler (warbler pictures)
2) Least Flycatcher (flycatcher pictures)
3) Cassin's Vireo (vireo pictures)
We were also having a very in depth conversation on the difference between
immature Townshend's Warbler vs immature Blackburnian Warblers. Can anyone
offer some helpful tips for differentiating between the two (other than
Townshend's being extremely more likely)?
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2TOGzOVW7ls/V89_-wmijgI/AAAAAAAAAGo/dWEOC6vxiXsmbjCe_05vsY4vVdrhoGX2gCLcB/s1600/Townshends%2BWabler%2B3.jpg>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QE6fhW3w1QQ/V89_8CFfNRI/AAAAAAAAAGk/IeSzRlOlMkwOUGFs1J-Ls-kkHX-Cv3w6QCLcB/s1600/Townshends%2BWabler%2B2.jpg>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DA0DClqgQaw/V8-AUTQNr_I/AAAAAAAAAGs/siSMzCH8UGYHnbQGdz82cPzBIX-n2X8KQCLcB/s1600/Townshends%2BWabler.jpg>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I_TGe1lALlc/V89_1u5u_BI/AAAAAAAAAGg/eD07MD1pbjEkapG09am6scTlcp9FBLCHACLcB/s1600/Mystery%2BFlycather%2B1.jpg>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QviiHfqAWCM/V89_yIm43PI/AAAAAAAAAGc/SrwwcbBDEjAubBgtTDIdr4cM11nCZ08MQCLcB/s1600/Mystery%2BVireo%2B2.1.jpg>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XIR_6mMGFz8/V89_wO-sdBI/AAAAAAAAAGY/pvmHo6rwzLsL-uUXM8_I9rSj3rq0u_UqACLcB/s1600/Mystery%2BVireo%2B1.4.jpg>
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fij-dW122uU/V89_t_aKlSI/AAAAAAAAAGU/_dDJvYEwT1MKYGHCF9iBX_RYgIPtyexQQCLcB/s1600/Mystery%2BVireo%2B1.3.jpg>
Thanks for all the help.
Joey Angstman
Fort Collins, CO.
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