bird ID

[jonny_redhorse]

I took this pic last fall (september) and have always wondered exactly what species of bird it is..I think it's a "Yellow bellied flycatcher"....or a "least flycatcher" but not entirely sure....maybe a warbler of some type?....just curious I guess ...any birders out there that think they may have the answer, just chime in....jonny

[Steve Foss]

Jonny, it's one of those confusing fall warblers, which, without their breeding plumage and with the great numbers of juvenile birds, can be very difficult to figure out. But you've got a good number of field marks here, so I'm going to crack my Sibley guide and take a stab at it.

[Steve Foss]

After consulting Sibley, the National Geographic Guide and the Peterson guide series on warblers, I've got to say it bears all the field marks a first-year male yellow-rumped warbler.

[buzzsaw]

Or Tennessee warbler or Bay Breasted Warbler... tough call, but probably Yellow Rumped.

[Steve Foss]

Quote:

---

Or Tennessee warbler or Bay Breasted Warbler... tough call, but probably Yellow Rumped.

---

Oh, Buzz, I know you love a good argument , but the Tennessee and bay-breasted have no eye ring and virtually no streaking. The bay-breasted may have just a touch of white below the eye in a semi-ring, but not the above-and-below ring this bird has.

Also, the pale throat wash on this bird wraps all the way up behind the auriculars, which is a key mark for a fall male yellow-rumped.

[jonny_redhorse]

geesh!....lots of warblers in my audubon field guide!.........I must have missed the yellow rumped, but there it is! and yes,it does look like the picture!.....guess the baybreasted certainly is close also..things are tough to tell apart for sure! ...I agree....yellow rumped it is(female of the species )

[Steve Foss]

Nope, pretty sure it's the male. My guides (especially Sibley and the Peterson guide dedicated strictly to warbler plumages), shows quite a bit more streaking on the male, and that pale throat extending so far back and up is key.

[jonny_redhorse]

so much for my birding expertise! ...lol!..a male yellow rumped it is...thanks guys!.....I'll be looking for one next summer

[Steve Foss]

Hey, no worries, Jonny. I've been doing this for 35 years, but I've been wrong before and will be wrong again. And I could be wrong now. At any rate, it's a nice picture of a cool bird and, whatever species it is, it is what it is.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

anyone have any pics. of ruby crowned kinglets?

i had some around last year,but man,those are some zippy little buggers! i also saw a warbler type that had so much orange you wouldn't have believed it. it looked just like a redstart with no black. mutant redstart? i wish i would have had a camera along.

[amoebus]

There is a bird in that picture?? I thought it was one of those "where's waldo" pictures.

If you get lucky enough to get a picture of a fall warbler, it will probably be a Myrtle (now Yellow-rumped). They can be thick as snot late in the season if you find a good food source. You will be lucky to spot more than 1 or 2 of the other warblers as they migrate through.