Seeing as almost everyone is agreeing I thought I'd play devils advocate with much better birders than myself so go easy! Isn't the lack of yellow coloration in the throat seeming to lean toward Warbling Vireo. From the intensity of yellow on this bird it seems the richer yellow areas are the undertail coverts. I was always lead to believe that you looked for intensity of coloration of yellow on these vireos. Philly should be in the throat and yellower in general, Warbling on the undertail coverts and flanks (as with this bird - the throat seems completely white - the undertail coverts pretty bright). With the Warbling (as is the case with this bird), a dark area in the lores can be apparent in as can a seemingly contrasty cap. See these Warbling Vireo pics: http://www.featheredfotos.com/spppages/songbirds/warbling%20vireo.html Philly: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.featheredfotos.com/WEB/PHVI2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.featheredfotos.com/spppages/songbirds/philadelphia%2520vireo.html&h=262&w=386&sz=37&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=Kpvkbzk6dA2AwM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dphiladelphia%2Bvireo%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN Luke Tiller Wilton ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

All good points by Luke, and I don't think there's any doubt that based on the photos available the IDs suggested are just that - suggestions. I'm not sure the bird can be positively identified from the photos. One factor that comes into play in these kind of photo ID exercises is monitor variation. There's no way of knowing if fairly subtle colors seen by one observer on their monitor are the same as those seen on another. From my point of view, the yellows were so negligible on my monitor that I didn't really give them a lot of weight. The apparent dark lores (better for Philly) are the best feature to me. I suspect the photo angle from below downplays any yellow that might be present on the throat-upper breast. I think Dave alluded to the fact that Philly shows its least intense yellow in spring (sometimes almost lacking), so that complicates using that feature at this time of year. The yellow is much more prominent in fall. One other subtle feature is that Philly is somewhat smaller-billed that Warbling (especially the eastern race of Warbling, which is slighthly larger than western race). I get a small-billed impression on this bird, but again that's subtle and hard to be sure about on a lone bird. Would I be shocked if another photo of this bird popped up showing it to clearly be Warbling? No. I'm just leaning toward Philly based on what we've got to work with. Greg Hanisek Waterbury ----- Original Message ----- From: <streatham2003@aol.com> To: <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 8:35 PM Subject: [CT Birds] Orange-crowned Warbler > Seeing as almost everyone is agreeing I thought I'd play devils advocate > with much better birders than myself so go easy! Isn't the lack of yellow > coloration in the throat seeming to lean toward Warbling Vireo. From the > intensity of yellow on this bird it seems the richer yellow areas are the > undertail coverts. I was always lead to believe that you looked for > intensity of coloration of yellow on these vireos. Philly should be in the > throat and yellower in general, Warbling on the undertail coverts and > flanks (as with this bird - the throat seems completely white - the > undertail coverts pretty bright). With the Warbling (as is the case with > this bird), a dark area in the lores can be apparent in as can a seemingly > contrasty cap. > > See these Warbling Vireo pics: > http://www.featheredfotos.com/spppages/songbirds/warbling%20vireo.html > > Philly: > http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.featheredfotos.com/WEB/PHVI2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.featheredfotos.com/spppages/songbirds/philadelphia%2520vireo.html&h=262&w=386&sz=37&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=Kpvkbzk6dA2AwM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dphiladelphia%2Bvireo%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN > > Luke Tiller > Wilton > > ________________________________________________________________________ > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free > from AOL at AOL.com. > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) > for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit > http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org > >

I think Luke is correct with his ID as Warbling Vireo. aaaaaathe angles are terrible to assess anything but the bill is longer than what I expect a Philadelphia should show and appears broader-based. It also doesn't appear to be as relatively large-headed as Philadelphia appears to me. Philly Vireo, because of its small size, large head and short bill, looks a bit bull-headed, like a Loggerhead Shrke...I don't get this from this bird. I see a long-billed smaller headed bird with fairly pale eye arcs and a dark loral line that is variably present on the photos but that is not out of the possible range of dark in the lores for Warbling Vireo. In fact, in the first image, the dark does not seem to make it through the lores. Again, I think Luke is right but as Greg says, if an image surfaces that show this to be a Philly Vireo... As to Luke's questions about Bicknell's Thrush, there are banding records (I have banded at least one) and credible sight records (including heard vocalization) from Connecticut. Mark Mark S.Szantyr 80 Bicknell Road Apt. 9 Ashford, CT 06278 USA Birddog55@Charter.net 860-487-9766 ----- Original Message ----- From: <streatham2003@aol.com> To: <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 8:35 PM Subject: [CT Birds] Orange-crowned Warbler > Seeing as almost everyone is agreeing I thought I'd play devils advocate > with much better birders than myself so go easy! Isn't the lack of yellow > coloration in the throat seeming to lean toward Warbling Vireo. From the > intensity of yellow on this bird it seems the richer yellow areas are the > undertail coverts. I was always lead to believe that you looked for > intensity of coloration of yellow on these vireos. Philly should be in the > throat and yellower in general, Warbling on the undertail coverts and > flanks (as with this bird - the throat seems completely white - the > undertail coverts pretty bright). With the Warbling (as is the case with > this bird), a dark area in the lores can be apparent in as can a seemingly > contrasty cap. > > See these Warbling Vireo pics: > http://www.featheredfotos.com/spppages/songbirds/warbling%20vireo.html > > Philly: > http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.featheredfotos.com/WEB/PHVI2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.featheredfotos.com/spppages/songbirds/philadelphia%2520vireo.html&h=262&w=386&sz=37&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=Kpvkbzk6dA2AwM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dphiladelphia%2Bvireo%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN > > Luke Tiller > Wilton > > ________________________________________________________________________ > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free > from AOL at AOL.com. > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) > for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit > http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org >