[reccom] FW: [CVBirds] help with id of Solitary Vireo

[Rick Fridell]

Hello,
I thought you all might find this of interest, particularly in light of the
large number of Blue-headed Vireos reported in recent years.
Regards,
Rick



-----Original Message-----
From: central_valley_birds at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:central_valley_birds at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Joseph Morlan
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 7:03 AM
To: c. pechal
Cc: central_valley_birds at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CVBirds] help with id of Solitary Vireo

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 21:59:59 -0700, "c. pechal" <cpechal at comcast.net>
wrote:

>I saw this Vireo with a group of Bushtits on the Sacramento River near
Garcia Bend (across the river from Babel Slough).  It seemed too colorful
for a Cassin's, but am not sure what else it could be.  Could it be a
Blue-headed Vireo? Can anyone confirm the identity of this bird?
>  Here are links to 2 photos:
>http://www.pbase.com/imagestruck/image/67056457
>http://www.pbase.com/imagestruck/image/67056459
>
>Thank you so much for your help in advance.
>
>Chris Pechal
>Sacramento

Chris,

These are very interesting photos which became a topic for the "Bird
Identification Panel" at the recent Western Field Ornithologists Annual
meeting in Boulder Colorado.

Although none of the panelists were willing to completely eliminate the
possibility of Blue-headed Vireo or hybrid, the consensus was that this was
probably a very bright fresh fall-plumage Cassin's Vireo.  Subtle features
such as the greenish back penetrating into the nape area, some blurriness in
the malar region, the white rather than yellowish wing-bars, and reduced
white on the edges of the outer rectrices were all points that led away from
Blue-headed Vireo and towards Cassin's Vireo.

If the panel was correct in its assessment (and I believe it was), these
photos have implications for sight-records of Blue-headed Vireo in
California.  The overall brightness of your bird would certainly lead many
observers to identify it as a Blue-headed, especially if influenced by
experience with dull worm-plumage Cassin's Vireos seen in Spring and Summer.
A description of your bird, without the photos, emphasizing the extreme
brightness of the bird, might lead to acceptance of such a bird as a
Blue-headed.

Blue-headed Vireo is a "review species" of the California Bird Records
committee and we struggle annually with descriptions of claimed Blue-headed
Vireos in which the observer says the bird was much brighter than any
Cassin's Vireo.  Sight records, without photos, are likely to be subject to
extra scrutiny because of the existence of very bright, fresh-plumage birds
like yours.


--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044   jmorlan (at) ccsf.edu
Fall Birding Classes start Sept 6   http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee   http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/



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