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Warbler (?), Trinidad (1 Viewer)

bugmat

Well-known member
Can anyone ID this bird from this shot? I got it from someone local who found the bird on the ground, exhausted. It looks like a warbler, or flycatcher actually...
 

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It's one of the vireos... but why the wing bars? The only N American vireo with wing bars and a gray back is Plumbeous, which I believe is way out of range in Trinidad. However, the face pattern is better for Warbling, not Plumbeous/Blue-headed/Cassin's. Perhaps an aberrant Warbling?
 
I think you're on to something, Dave. I hadn't counted on an elaenia as a possibility.

Well the only thing that blatantly matches it being a FE is that it has a broken eye ring. But I've never seen A FE with such a uniform and neat dark plumage.

FEs usually have bright yellowish-white wing bars, the eye ring is broader and more diffuse (ie not neat) and are VERY streaky with a very rough jizz on face, neck, back etc (see attached of a FE up close and others). Also in FE the tertials are edged white, which this bird lacks. The mantle of the FE is also more olive-green in colour than this dark brown.

This bird looks too neat, seems the wrong colour (could be the photo of course) and the wing bars are white vs yellow. and there is no white fringing to the wings.

I've seen the 4 of the 5 reported elaenia here (several times) and it didn't ring a bell as any of them (see attached shots of the YBE, LE and SBE also), except possibly a juvenile yellow-bellied elaenia but int hat species there is hardly an eye ring and it usually displays a crest..
 

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