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#1 |
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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I almost felt embarrassed asking for a bird I.D...then I realized that I can't know everything (and clearly don't). Mostly, I know the feeder birds...but a lot fewer of the insect or fruit eating birds.
I spotted this while trying to capture shots of the various birds attracted to the ripening elderberries. ![]() ![]() Any ideas what it is? Not the clearest pictures, but I think they are enough for an ID.
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"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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#2 |
Heron
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Lower Pioneer Valley
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Warbler I think.
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#3 |
Salamander
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Iowa, USA
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I am pretty sure this is a Common Yellowthroat, immature male. This is a type of Warbler. It looks as if the dark mask is just beginning to develop.
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#4 |
Alternate POM Judge
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Maryland
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I think it's a warbler too. They are migrating through here.
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In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle |
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#5 |
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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Thank you all.
I finally got a chance to relax and do a search of my own. This is what I came up with, but I am not sure: Orange-crowned Warbler - Whatbird.com There was another that I thought it could be...again a warbler, so it seems I'm on the right track. I'm not very familiar with warblers at all, but I think I saw one a couple of years ago (with members here helping me to identify it, I think). I'll check out your IDs too, BirdingBunch. Early this summer, I kept startling a small, bright yellow bird as I'd walk one of my paths that is between the "hedgerow" and edge of my "meadow". I felt sure it was nesting low to the ground in the meadow, but I never got a good look at it, and I didn't want to do more than a perfunctory search for fear of unduly upsetting the nesting bird. Just this past week, I found the nest. I'd love to know what it was that nested there. Does anyone know the nesting habit of warblers?
__________________
"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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#6 |
Grub
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Burlington, VT
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This is almost assuredly a Common Yellowthroat. I'm not sure about sex or age, but it appears to be a female to me. The males are much easier to identify with their black mask, but the females are definitely harder. It's hard to explain, but subtle differences in the shape of the head and beak that to me (with several years of birding experience) seems easy to recognize. I've always thought of yellowthroats as having a head disproportionately bigger, and fluffier maybe, than than other warblers, making it look "cuter" than other warblers. Along more scientific lines, there is a clear distinction between the upper color (dull brownish-yellow) and the throat/breast color (brighter yellow), even in the females.
Orange-crowned warbler does not have a bright yellow patch; it's more mottled yellowish. Orange-crowns are also much more rare (I've never seen one in my 10 years of serious birding), whereas common yellowthroats are indeed quite common, especially in meadows and wet areas, sometimes in yards (your yard sounds like wonderful yellowthroat habitat). As far as nesting habits of warblers, since it's such a diverse group behaviorally, the nesting sites vary quite a bit. Some warblers are canopy species, like bay breasted, blackburnian and black-throated green. Others are understory specialists like Kentucky, black-throated blue, and hooded warblers. Common yellowthroats do nest in tall grasses often in meadows (especially wet meadows). Your mystery bird could have very likely been the female. They bounce around quite a bit making a bunch of noise but can be very hard to get eyes on. The yellow warbler nests in small trees on the edges of forests/meadows/shrubby areas. This is another possibility. Hopefully all that info helped sort things out rather than confuse you. Let me know if you have more questions. |
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#7 |
Alternate POM Judge
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Maryland
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That's interesting disuhan.
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In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle |
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#8 | |||
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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BirdingBunch and disuhan,
I finally had a chance to do a search for "female common yellowthroat" That sure does look like you nailed it. ![]() ![]() I had a feeling it was either a female or immature male no matter what it was. Quote:
![]() I hope to someday have that second sense that you seem to have that is hard to explain to a beginner (I'm a beginner when it comes to birds I've never encountered). I was surprised how much yellow there was on the breast. It is cool that some females are not nearly as dull as others. Quote:
Anyway, I'd love to know what yellow bird was nesting near the ground in the grass and weeds (and a few natives) in a small multiflora rose that I'd yet to yank out [-I plan to replace it with the pasture rose (Rosa carolina, I think) which won't take over the meadow and eliminate the biodiversity that feeds these birds and their young]. Quote:
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__________________
"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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#9 | |
Salamander
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Iowa, USA
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Another bird I am thinking of is a Yellow Warbler, as disuhan said, but I am not as familiar with them. We've seen them during migration, but do not think they nest here. Now that the birds are gone, did you get a picture of the nest? |
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#10 | ||
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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I have no way of knowing if the yellow bird I saw flying from the same spot each time I used that path is the same bird that I posted here. I wish I got a good shot of that one as well. Quote:
![]() ![]() Also, I did take photos of the nest...although I'm not saying it is the same bird...though it could be. Can anyone identify the bird by the nest...or at least rule out any by the nest? ![]() ![]()
__________________
"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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