Posted by Paul Bithorn on April 02, 2001 at 13:45:27:
In Reply to: Nice morning at Barnes-warbling vireo still there! posted by Michelle Davis on March 30, 2001 at 09:48:13:
Excerpts from John Boyd's post to FLORIDABIRDS on Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1, 2001:
Divergent directions have been given for the bird, which makes me wonder if there might be two. Our Warbling Vireo was not in the Nature Center.Rather, turn right when the road tees after entering the park, and proceed to the end. Park there. The Warbling Vireo was seen near the far end of the parking lot, to the left of the trail through the small hammock. We first spotted it in a Lancewood, about 3/4 of the way up. Other birds in the area included Magnolia (male), B&W, and Prairie Warblers, Catbirds,and Great Crested Flycatchers. A female Maggie, Ovenbird and Chucks-will-widow were seen in the small hammock.
After seeing and hearing the vireo Sunday, the consensus was that you have to go with song, and that the vireo must be an aberrant Bell's.But you also have to go with structure, and as I finally found time to write a long description,I realized structure was strongly in the Warbling camp(for one the bird was too large for Bell's). At this point, I'll just call it a mystery vireo, but I'm wondering if it isn't a Warbling (perhaps Western Warbling) that somehow picked up a Bell's-like song. These are my notes, but several of the points were discussed with the other birders present. On Saturday, Paul Bithorn was there, on Sunday,the group included Paul, Brian Hope, Brian Rapoza, Wally George, Larry Manfredi, Jill Rosenfield, and several other birders. I know some of these guys discussed the bird at lunch (I had to go to a university activity instead), and hope they will pipe up with any additions or
corrections.
Here's the description:
Vireo seen at A.D. Barnes Park, Miami, on March 31 and April 1, 2001
Observed briefly on March 31, 2001 @ about 2pm.
Observed on-and-off from 8am to 1pm on April 1, 2001. Weather ranged from post-rain overcast to blue skies. The bird was mostly seen inside the
canopy and overhead, but we did see it some in full sunlight, and not far above eye-level.
References and tapes were consulted several times during the 5-hour viewing period on April 1, as well as in the evening of March 31 and
April 1.They include Sibley, Kaufman photo + advanced birding, Audubon master, Stokes, NGS III, Peterson, Pyle, and Stokes & Peterson CDs.
Appearance: Gray cap (darker than face), white supercilium, short gray eyeline, not extending to bill, no eye-ring, pale area beneath eye contrasting with eyeline) almost as thick as supercilium, eye dark.Vireo-type bill, but pointy, lower mandible flesh colored, upper mandible color not clearly noted. Gray head (darker on top), back with olive tones
in the gray. No hint of wing bars. A white feather edge is visible at the bend of the folded wing. Underparts light, yellow wash on flanks and
breast (flank yellow was brightest), also pale yellowish wash on undertail coverts. Some of the yellow wash on the underparts was only visible in
good light. Tail was medium length, and dusky gray underneath. Overall shape of bird from underneath similar to Red-eyed Vireo. The bird
appeared larger than nearby Prairie Warblers, about the same size as nearby Black-and-white Warblers. Definitely smaller than a Red-eyed Vireo(which was not present). Compared to a Blue-headed Vireo, (which was present) it was more lightly-built, but maybe not shorter.
Behavior: The vireo was extremely active early on Apr 1, moreso than nearby warblers. Later in the day its activity level was comparable to nearby warblers. When we saw in the hot afternoon on March 31, it was not particularly active.
Song: I would describe the song as similar to Bell's Vireo. It sang quite a bit, but I would not describe it as full song...some sort of subsong, or whatever you call it. The song was slower than Bell's examples on tapes, paced more like Warbling. The bird's voice had a bit
of a buzzy to burry tone, unlike the clear whistles of (Eastern) Warbling,or the Grosbeak-like tones of (Western) Warbling, but very similar to the tone of Bell's. The song was quite busy, with occasional scold notes or
other noises. It often had an ending quite like Bell's. (Larry Manfredi recorded some examples of its song on his new digital recorder.) The
scold call was similar to Warbling...I don't know Bell's scold call. Other comments: If I saw the bird without hearing it, I would consider it an obvious Warbling Vireo. If I heard it without seeing it, I would take it for a Bell's Vireo (but an unusual song).
Previous Experience with bird: I haven't seen Eastern Warbling Vireo in 3 years, when I lived in Rochester, NY, where we saw quite a few of them.I've seen Western Warbling Vireo and Bell's Vireo in W Texas and SE Arizona, most recently last May.
P.S. (From Paul Bithorn) I concur with John that it is probably the Western race of the Warbling Vireo. Larry Manfredi called Sunday night after playing 4 versions of the song and concurs with our hypothesis. Well don't just sit there! Check it out! This is a significant sight record for anywhere in Florida.Keep us updated. Sorry for posting the longest message in T.A.S. history. Life is good.....
Paul Bithorn