Pine Warbler, Dendroica pinus
El Dorado Park, Long Beach
Los Angeles County, California
Wednesday 01-07-1998
Joseph Morlan

After successfully seeing the Couch's Kingbird, I decided to look for various rarities known to be wintering in the Los Angeles area. The next day I arranged to meet Karen Gilbert and Kaaren Perry at El Dorado Park to look for the Pine Warbler which was discovered there by Karen Gilbert on November 25, 1997..

We located the flock of Townsend's Warbler in the Canary Island Pines at the northeast corner of Willow St. and Studebaker Ave. and after about 20 minutes searching Kaaren located the Pine Warbler which we watched foraging for another 20 minutes or so. The following description is based on notes made while observing the bird:

Obvious warbler about the size and shape of Yellow-rumped Warbler.

The bill was sharply pointed with pale pink coloration throughout. It was slightly thicker than Townsend's Warbler bill, but not noticeably longer.

The olive-brown face contrasted with the opaque yellow throat and breast. The lower ear-coverts formed distinctive dark smudges on either side of the face which contrasted with a pale area extending up the side of the neck. The dark eye, was set off by narrow yellow spectacles and a faint yellowish eyebrow extending slightly behind the eye.

The back was a plain unstreaked olive-brown with a partial grayish collar around the back of the neck.

The wing-bars were broad and pale-gray in color.

The yellow throat and breast contrasted with the dull gray flanks and dull brown flanks. There was faint dusky streaking confined to the sides of the breast. The undertail coverts were short and whitish.

The underside of the tail appeared white all the way to the tip as a consequence of the long white tail spots including both webs of the outer rectrices. The tail appeared long, partly because of the short undertail coverts and partly because it it was narrow at the base and wider toward the tip.

Unlike the adjacent Townsend's Warblers, the Pine Warbler did not flycatch, but foraged by creeping along the branches occasionally wagging its tail.  I did not hear the bird call at any time during the observation.

--
Joseph Morlan
380 Talbot Avenue #206
Pacifica, CA 94044