Yellow-throated Warbler
Huntington Central Park
Huntington Beach, Orange County, California
26 November 1999
Joseph Morlan
Today Robbie Fischer and I decided to
look for the Yellow-throated Warbler which had been seen near the Park Bench Cafe at Huntington Central Park for
several weeks and which was still present yesterday. We searched the trees in the vicinity of the cafe for quite
a while before Mike Heindel found the bird working the trunk of a large eucalyptus near the far corner of the lawn
area just northeast of the cafe. Bob Reiling and I got good views of the bird, but it flew before other observers
arrived and we did not locate it again.
The following is based on notes taken during and immediately after the observation:
An average-sized Dendroica warbler about the same size as nearby Townsend's Warbler, but with a noticeably longer and thinner bill. The wings showed two strong white wing-bars. The throat was bright "butter" yellow. The breast and underparts were white marked by bold black streaks down the sides and flanks. The rest of the underparts including the underside of the tail appeared solidly white. The legs and eye were black.
The upperparts were plain gray with no streaking whatsoever. A bold dark "sideburn" extended below the eye, but was separated from the back and nape by a large white patch on each side. This white patch was separated from a well marked white supercilium which extended all the way to the base of the bill. A dark line through the eye connected with the dark wedge-shaped cheek patch which contrasted strongly with the bright yellow throat and chin. I looked carefully at the lores and determined they were white supporting the subspecies D. dominica albilora.
During the period of observation, the bird was seen creeping on the main limbs in the manner of a nuthatch.
This is apparently the second record of Yellow-throated Warbler for Orange County.
