1. I have not gone out to see this bird; HOWEVER 2. Some years ago, I was certain that I had found a Bells Vireo in Prospect Park and then spent several hours examining specimen trays at AMNH. My recollections: All of the dead Bells Vireo specimens in the museum trays had ivory colored bills rather than the black of most vireos. It is not clear whether that is true of live birds or whether the live bills are even lighter than the bills of other vireo species. In the hand, the wing bars on Bells are beige on a gray background, hence quite subtle.Other species have brighter, more obvious, white or pale yellow wing bars on a black or nearly black background. General body coloration: The gray/olive coloration running over the top of the head and down to the upper back is somewhat similar to a first spring female solitarius; however, size matters: Bells vireos are significantly smaller than solitarius. The yellow flanks appearing in some pictures of Bells varies geographically, becoming yellower the farther east the specimen birds were found.
Bob Gochfeld -----Original Message----- From: Shaibal Mitra <shaibal.mi...@csi.cuny.edu> To: NYSBIRDS-L <nysbirds-l@cornell.edu> Sent: Wed, Sep 12, 2012 2:24 pm Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Bells Vireo - yes 12:45 Hi Will and all, I saw the bird reported at 12:45 today and feel confident that it was a Bell's Vireo. The face pattern was quite plain, recalling Warbling Vireo or Orange-crowned Warbler; the supercilium was thin and vague; a dark transocular continued beyond the eye; and thin pale crescents were present above and below the eye. Contrary to the condition in White-eyed Vireo, the front part of the supercilium was narrow and the area directly behind the eye was dark. Furthermore, the bird appeared long-tailed and very small (even smaller bodied than White-eyed), and it lacked bright, discrete patches of yellow on the flanks (it showed a pale and ill-defined yellowish wash there). I don't know if photos of this individual were obtained. Dick Veit noted an immature White-eyed Vireo at this site yesterday, but we did not see that bird today (to our knowledge). Most disconcertingly, there was a House Wren present today that seemed able, to both my ear and Sean Sime's, to reproduce a shockingly faithful version of Bell's Vireo song (it sometimes sang more typical House Wren songs also). Perhaps this bird has received some audio-training in Bell's Vireo vocalizations over the past two days? I just looked at Anthony's photos and am very puzzled. The face pattern, particularly the broad pale area between the bill and the eye, appears very different from that of the bird I just saw. On the other hand, there are aspects of these photos that seem at odds for White-eyed Vireo, too. Without closer study (I have to go to class now), I'm just not sure of how to interpret these photos. Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________________ From: bounce-64476803-11143...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-64476803-11143...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Will Raup [hoaryredp...@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 12:58 PM To: rfr...@earthlink.net; NYSBIRDS-L; ebirds...@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Bells Vireo - yes 12:45 And we are sure this is a Bell's Vireo and not an immature WE Vireo? What else is being seen? Will Raup Albany, NY ---------------------------------------- > Subject: [nysbirds-l] Bells Vireo - yes 12:45 > From: rfr...@earthlink.net > Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:51:29 -0400 > To: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu; ebirds...@yahoogroups.com > > The Bell's Vireo has just reappeared in the same spot in Mt. Loretto Unique Area - 12:45 pm. > > Rich Fried > NYC > > Sent from my iPhone > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- ________________________________ Out of respect for others and the environment, the College of Staten Island is a 100% Tobacco-Free Campus. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
