Posted by Nicholas Block (128.42.164.73) on September 18, 2000 at 16:21:18:
Wow, a possible eastern bird that I can possibly comment on. :-) The first look of the bird in the right-hand photo immediately struck me as more of a Townsend's face pattern than a Black-throated Green. The dark auriculars that come to a sharp point bordered by a thick yellow supercilium are not what I associate with a BTG, even on adult males. That's actually a mark I noticed on a lot of the Townsend's I was seeing this spring in west Texas (my first real experience with them). On BTGs, the auriculars tend to appear more rounded and not nearly as contrasting with the yellow border at the very back. From the looks of it, this is a first fall female, which makes the dark auriculars and broad yellow borders feel even more out-of-place on a BTG. I cannot recall ever seeing a young female BTG which such a strong facial pattern. As for it being a hybrid, there's no way I can really comment on that. But I can see why a hybrid ID might be more fitting than BTG. Good birding!