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Virginia Queries (1 Viewer)

Tully

Well-known member
Help to ID the attached 2 birds seen in early June at the State Arboretum in Virginia would be greatly appreciated.
My effort would be Cactus Wren for the first two pics and Eastern Wood Peewee for the other
Thanks
 

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The first bird is a juvenile Carolina Wren.

The second bird is an Eastern Wood-Pewee. As fbeeldens pointed out, the wings are long. Other factors include the long primary extension, dark and low contrast face, throat and breast, bill shape and coloration, and the distinct smudges on the undertail coverts. Location makes the odds overwhelming that it is Eastern instead of Western, and the whiteness of the wing bars serves as a nice confirmation.
 
Due to the grayish wash on the breast and belly, the very long tail which shows distinct white markings and the slender aspect of the bird overall, I believe this may be a Bewick's Wren.

I think a Carolina Wren would be "chunkier", show a least some brownish wash to the breast and belly and have a shorter tail.
 
I'm not fond of the apparent length of the tail for Carolina. What you see as gray, I see as buffy, on breast and sides of the neck, which would be consistent with juvenile Carolina Wren, but we each have our opinions.

Besides seeing definitive gray in the underparts and side of neck before calling a bird an out of range Bewick's, I would have to see the dark gray feet. These feet are pink, so juvenile Carolina Wren my vote remains.
 
Thayeri, I had not noticed the feet! The pink coloration would point to Carolina, though. The longish tail with the white markings would point to Bewick's. Range does favor Carolina.

So perhaps this is a Carolina Wren with a longish tail!
 
Hi Larry, I do share your puzzlement about the apparent length of the tail for a Carolina Wren, but not the amount of white. If you look at the bold white in the link to the underside of a Bewick's tail, I just don't think the subject bird is white enough.

http://www.tule-lake.com/refuge/junipersage/01bewickswren.jpg

With the tail, I think my concern is not so much the absolute length as the tail extension beyond the edge of the undertail coverts -- looks much too long. Now, if we go with the juvenile Carolina Wren theory, and say that it is doing a very early molt to adult undertail coverts (very early since the photo was taken in June), then that would explain the missing length of whitish juvenile coverts, the long tail extension, and what looks to me like a bit of emerging barred adult coverts just below the branch, in the center of the tail.

I don't like hypothesizing an early molt to solve an ID issue, not at all, but it would be one way of explaining an otherwise puzzling appearance...???
 
Thanks very much folks for your help. I'll have a look and see if I have any more pics of this one to see if that helps
 
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