IBRC 52-B-10

Idaho Bird Records Committee Rarities Report Form

Species: Scarlet Tanager

Reporter: Heidi Ware HeidiTheBirdNerd@yahoo.com

2120 Mortimer Drive Boise, ID 83712 (208) 860-5935

Other Observers: Jay Carlisle (also helped author this report)

Date Report Prepared: 1/18/10

Date Sighting Occurred: 6/1/09

Locality of Observation: Camas NWR, Idaho

Habitat: a willow tree along an empty canal by the main walking paths near Camas NWR headquarters (near the base of ‘Redstart Lane’)

Conditions: a rainy, cool day. I use vortex viper 10 x 42 binocs. Lighting was definitely poor. The bird was seen from ~20-25m.

Did you take notes…

Did you consult a field guide or other reference work?

Yes, before and after observation

What guide(s) or reference(s) did you consult?

Sibley and National Geographic

Description: Jay first spotted the bird on a dead branch and called my attention to it. Because of the poor lighting (making the coloration appear even more drab), he wasn’t even sure of a tanager at first but noticed the tanager-like bill and lack of wing bars and started to suspect a female Scarlet Tanager. Over the subsequent 10-seconds or so, we were able to observe that she was an overall ‘brownish-green’ (less yellow) tanager with darker wings and no contrast between the head and back. The bill was darker looking than the female Western Tanagers around it. And there were NO wingbars (we saw it mostly from the back and side so we were able to view the entire wing and back very well). We did not hear any vocalizations.

Behavior: Mixed in with a flock of ~20 Western Tanagers (LOTS of tanagers that day). Seen perched in the tree for 15-20 seconds, then watched in flight (with other tanagers) to a distant house with cottonwoods.

How and when did you positively identify the bird, and what clinched the identification for you?
Before arriving at the refuge, Jay and I had been going over some possible vagrant species we could see. We checked out Parulas, lots of warblers, and talked about looking for “Lazuli’s and Western Tanagers without wing bars” :) So, when we both got our eyes on the tanager Jay asked “is that a tanager?” “yep” “does it have wing bars?” “uhh…nope!” and that was it.

How did you eliminate similar species, and what were they? A female Western Tanager would look similar to this bird, but would have wing bars and more of a contrast between the back and head (gray to yellow) while the Scarlet had no wing bars and was more solid/uniform olive greenish.. Other tanager species have either wing bars or very large bills that would be unmistakable.

Experience with this species (and similar species): this was my lifer Scarlet Tanager, but I have seen many Western Tanager females in the field (in my backyard every spring, and when I spend time in the mountains), and banded 100’s of WETAs at the Idaho Bird Observatory. Jay has seen many Scarlet’s of all age/sex classes before (including an adult male several years prior at Camas NWR), especially in SD & CT as well as wintering birds in Central America.

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 Idaho bird species. I 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? (If yes, please include or attach) no :(