Tennessee Warbler? (1 Viewer)

[MiddleRiver]

Shenandoah Valley. Orange-crowned also comes to mind. Missing eye-ring and crappy pic. In medium trees this morning.

 

[Butty]

Looks pretty fair for Tennessee warbler.

 

[MiddleRiver]

Thanks Butty (and FJ). Missing the eye-ring but that was my best guess. Dang warblers are showing up but they won't keep still!

First for me...

 

[birdmeister]

Is there a chance this is Red-eyed Vireo at an odd angle?

I realize the image has limitations, but I think most Tennessee show at least a partial wing-bar. Red-eyed Vireo would certainly show such a plain, greenish wing. I think the apparent dull gray cap blending into green nape favors the vireo, too, since male Tennessee's gray cap tends to be more well-defined. The bill could be an issue, though if the bird is tilting its head towards the viewer then the hook and bulk of the bill could be hard to see.

Any chance of more photos, even blurry ones?

 

[MiddleRiver]

Is there a chance this is Red-eyed Vireo at an odd angle?

I realize the image has limitations, but I think most Tennessee show at least a partial wing-bar. Red-eyed Vireo would certainly show such a plain, greenish wing. I think the apparent dull gray cap blending into green nape favors the vireo, too, since male Tennessee's gray cap tends to be more well-defined. The bill could be an issue, though if the bird is tilting its head towards the viewer then the hook and bulk of the bill could be hard to see.

Any chance of more photos, even blurry ones?

ReV was suggested by one local club member. I thought it was distinctly chubbier and darker, and with a contrasting skullcap. We actually have a lot of ReV's right now and (when I can find them!) I'm often watching them. I typically see/hear them at mid-level trees. This bird was fairly low and in dense foilage, as you can tell by photo angle. At the time, my first reaction based on general impression was 'that's something new/different!'.

All that said... who knows. It wish I had a better photo or had caught profile view!

LMK what you think after seeing this pic...

 

[stuartelsom]

The legs appear quite stout and are blue-grey. This would favour Red-eyed Vireo, over Tennessee Warbler which has blackish legs.

Stu

 

[Butty]

legs . . . are blue-grey

I consider that an entirely unsafe assessment in a photo of this quality. In fact they look black.

 

[THE_FERN]

I consider that an entirely unsafe assessment in a photo of this quality. In fact they look black.

Blue-grey for me even taking into account picture quality. Having said this, I don't think this is the vireo. It has a white vent (cf yellowish) and a short tail. I suspect the warbler's apparent leg colour will depend on lots of things like ambient light and may be variable like chiffchaff

 

[MiddleRiver]

Thanks all for comments. Sometimes these ID's become and obsession for me, but I always learn a lot of little details.
My gut told me it was not a Vireo, which is why I frantically tried to photograph it (maybe should have stayed on bins and gotten look at face!), but I'll admit there are details that bug me. The areas of gray and green on wings - coverts etc. - don't seem right for Tennessee?
Maybe I'll get lucky and see another one... it's our front yard patch and I watch it pretty hard. It's got great habitat and I've already picked up a couple of other good migrants...

 

[MiddleRiver]

After catching myself focusing one one field mark and missing the 'big picture' (and reading Advanced Birding , I've tried to trust my first impressions more. This is full image at 350mm (525mm equivalent).

 

[MiddleRiver]

View attachment 03026.jpg

 

[Microtus]

The legs appear quite stout and are blue-grey. This would favour Red-eyed Vireo, over Tennessee Warbler which has blackish legs.

Stu

I consider that an entirely unsafe assessment in a photo of this quality. In fact they look black.

The legs look blue-gray to me on my laptop monitor.

 

[Butty]

The toes look blue-grey, the tarsus (commonly called 'leg') looks black. A very clear colour distinction between those is apparent in this image.

 

[THE_FERN]

The toes look blue-grey, the tarsus (commonly called 'leg') looks black. A very clear colour distinction between those is apparent in this image.

yeah but it's in shadow...

 

[Butty]

Thank you. I rest my case.

 

[AveryBartels]

I would strongly favour Vireo over Tennessee Warbler for the following reasons:

• Side of neck/nape are greenish, should be grey in male TEWA
• Feet appear larger and stouter than the thin, dainty feet of TEWA
• Primary projection looks too short, though REVI also tend to have medium-longish primary projection, it averages shorter than TEWA
• The greyish tone to the wing coverts, contrasting somewhat with the rest of the green upperparts, seems consistent with several photos online of REVI and not TEWA. Incidentally, I had never noticed this field mark before, so fun to learn something new!

With regards to vent colour, adults of North American breeding birds typically have white undertail coverts, unlike their southern counterparts (now Chivi) and immature birds.

Avery