[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by graham langley on 10:53:26 10/10/08
In Reply to: Western Tanager maybe? posted by Rock Jetty
Thanks for the follow up comment ref the tanager.
As a British birder who travels the world for work and posts records for local groups I am conscious of three things.
a) i don't never everything about the nuances of plumage or the relative scarcity of species.
b) locals always know more than me
c) its very annoying when someone arrives in your area and claims something special!
So I exercise caution with the tanager. What I saw was basic green/yellowish bird duskier on top than below but showing no greying towards the belly. It was large for a warbler or vireo but still a small bird compared to a cardinal for instance. It had a classic chunky bill, open face and staring eye of a tanager.
The bird showed ONE wing bar, basically a faint yellowish crescent at the tips of the greater coverts was not strong or whitish like the ones I've seen on Western Tanagers some of which look like whie-winged crossbill at a glance (I think westerns often have a second bar too?).
I folowed Sibley's guide which I had with me and felt the bird resembled the female at the top of his series of images which he cites "some show weak wingbars"
I am home now and note that the Nat Geographic guide does not show this feature. I also have the Helm (I think Helm series in the Uk is published by Princeton in the US) guide to Tanagers by Isler and Isler which shows four plumages including a sub-adult male and states "resembles female but often has yellow spots on greater coverts and tertials." The imagedepicts a bird with a yellow-cream crescent on the greater coverts.
below are some links to a few images that hint at the bird I saw. Although none show a bar as strongly as I noted I am not convinced that the Cape Florida bird was a Western as its bar was still to faint, thin and yellowish.
Much as I'd love it to be a Western I genuinely feel it wasn't!
I can provide directions to the area it was in if that helps but migrants are always hard to relocate.
www.flickr.com/photos/buddymydog/2512089203/
www.flickr.com/photos/saltpannes/999074861/
www.flickr.com/photos/saltpannes/2681480392/
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]