Another interesting bird. Steve Howell saw me showing this photo to a friend of mine in November and jokingly remarked, "Well, it's either a Baltimore Oriole or a Yellow-throated Vireo, so it's a Pine Warbler," and he was right. The large bill, long tail, yellow wash, and bold eye-ring are all very typical of Pine Warbler.
The classic tough fall warbler trio is Pine, Blackpoll, and Bay-breasted, but female fall Blackburnian Warblers can look quite similar as well. I'm going to avoid taking the time to explain why it's not these species, but instead explain why it is a Pine Warbler.
One of the first things I look for to distinguish Pine Warbler from the others is the eye ring. This bird has a fairly obvious one. This bird is relatively large-billed and long-tailed. That is another helpful way to rule out the others. The white spots on the tail created by black edges to the rectrices and a black border to the undertail coverts is also typical. Also note the relatively weak wingbars.
Lot's of good answers and tries, and congrats to the winners:
Mike Biros
Conor Higgins
Ryan Ford
Ryan McDermott
Feel free to comment on this post or email us at boomchachalaca@gmail.com with questions or concerns.
~Luke
This is nice post and this is lovely bird. I think correct answer Mike Biros.
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