Pine Warbler
El Dorado Park
Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California
26 November 1999
Joseph Morlan

After good luck with the Yellow-throated Warbler at Huntington Central Park, Robbie Fischer, Bob Reiling and I decided to look for the Pine Warbler which was found near the northwest corner of Area #2 at El Dorado Park The bird was first found yesterday 11/25/99 by Karen Gilbert. After some difficulty finding the location where the bird had been reported, I called Karen Gilbert who said the bird was near the last 15 MPH sign at the west end of Snake Road. Soon I located the Pine Warbler high in a conifer. I alerted Robbie and we watched it for a short time as it worked its way down into better light. Unfortunately the bird flew away as soon as Bob Reiling arrived and we did not relocate it afterwards, so views were relatively brief.

The following is based on notes taken during and immediately after the observation:

An average-sized warbler about the same size as nearby Yellow-rumped Warblers, but with a noticeably longer tail and shorter wings. The wings showed two fairly strong whitish wing-bars. The throat and breast appeared dull yellow at first, but in sunlight appeared bright yellow. This in opaque color, quite different from the bright lemon-yellow of nearby Townsend's Warblers. Some dingy streaking was visible along the sides of the breast.

The most conspicuous feature was a darkish wedge shaped mark on the side of the face under the eye, forming dark auriculars which were outlined around the side of the neck. This pattern recalled that of Prairie Warbler. A pale crescent was under the eye and a faint supercilium above the eye. Upperparts appeared unmarked dull olive. The belly and short undertail coverts were white, but there was some dull smudging along the flanks.

From below, the long white undertail spots were evident and appeared to reach all the way to the tip of the tail. The bill seemed average in size from the views I had. The bird pumped its tail occasionally.

DISCUSSION

There is speculation that this may be the a different bird from the one which wintered nearby last year. This bird is somewhat duller than that bird but it is in the same area and the intensity of the yellow seems to be very dependent on lighting conditions, so I would regard it as "probably the same." Details on the bird last winter are here.