Species: MacGillivray’s Warbler
Reporter: Heidi Ware
Email: HeidiTheBirdNerd@yahoo.com
Cell: (208) 860-5935
Other Observers: Jay Carlisle
Date Report Prepared: December 7, 2009
Date Sighting Occurred: December 5, 2009
Locality of Observation:
Habitat: Bushes and tree on riverbank
Conditions:
Bird was observed for less than 5 minutes total, including the brief
glimpses and hearing the call notes. (stayed hidden and silent for
quite a while). The sun was still rising so it was somewhat dark, but
definitely light enough to see color and markings clearly. I observed
the bird from approx. 10-15’ away with Vortex 10X42 binoculars. Very
cold day. Low of 18 high 35. Clear sky and slight breeze
Did you take notes? No. but discussed ID points with other observer during and after sighting
Did you consult a field guide or other reference work? Not for the MGWA ID. (I did check the Sibley Guide to Birds to remember details about CONW and MOWA for this report)
Description: an
Adult Male MacGillivray’s Warbler. Bird was initially heard while
walking on the greenbelt path. Chip note was clearly the “marble-click”
MGWA sound. Heard this call >5 times, and caught fleeting glimpses
of the bird through grass and branches. I finally got a clear view, and
was able to confirm the long tail, greenish and yellow body coloration,
full gray hood, dark black on the lores and border of the hood/chest,
and very clear broken white eye ring.
Behavior: The
bird called multiple times but was very elusive (which definitely fits
the species!). It hopped through the low bushes and a tree along the
edge of the river and continued to “pop out” of the bushes for a few
seconds before disappearing again.
How and when did you positively identify the bird, and what clinched the identification for you? For
both observers, the first thought at hearing the call note was
“warbler”….then we were confused because it was not the expected
Yellow-rump or maybe orange-crowned call note. Once our brains were out
of “winter bird mode” it was easy to tell that it was a MacGillivray’s
Warbler call. For a while I only got views of its tail (I could see it
was long-ish and that it was the “right” green color for a Mac), but
before seeing the full bird, we both joked about the possibility of a
Mourning Warbler or something else rare. So when I finally got good
looks at the bird I was ready to make sure it really had a broken eye
ring! The identification was made easier because it was an adult male MGWA with the dark lores plus the eye ring…which is pretty unmistakable!
How did you eliminate similar species, and what were they?
I eliminated other Oporornis
warblers based mostly on the broken eye ring. I knew that a Mourning
Warbler would not have an obvious eye ring. Also, a Connecticut Warbler
would have a full eye ring and would not have the dark lores.
Experience with this species (and similar species): Both
observers band 100’s of MacGillivray’s Warblers each season at the
Idaho Bird Observatory; both also have experience detecting MGWA’s
using sight and sound during official point counts. I am confident with
MGWA chip notes and the other observer, Jay Carlisle, is very familiar
with these and other warbler calls. Jay has seen both MOWA and CONW’s.
I have not seen either of those species, but know enough about them
from field guides to always be “on the lookout” for them.
General birding experience: I have been seriously birding for a little over a year. I now feel confident on my visual and auditory ID skills of many common
spent the summer of ‘09
conducting bird point count surveys using both sight and sound for ID.
I also have in-hand experience with many Idaho species.
Were photo(s), video, and/or audio obtained by you? no