Posted by Ryan Shaw (172.134.50.54) on October 11, 2000 at 22:52:51:
After reading all the comments about the warbler on the right, I still stand dead set on MacGillivray's Warbler. For one thing it has the flesh colored legs of an Oporornis sp. The head contrasts well with the yellow body color, the photo is probably a bit overexposed, which is why the throat looks a little more beige than it should. Plus the bill gives a good two-tone appearance with the lower mandible having a pinkish coloring to it. The eye-arcs look straight-up MacGillivrays to me, maybe not all the way complete on the upper one, but it may have to do with molt/individual variation...since it is august and all...
The bird on the left still intrigues me. I don't think its a Bewick's Wren, or any wren at that. The angle is tricky, but the bird doesn't appear long-billed, or the tail rounded as in Bewick's. I'm left to ponder 3 choices: California Gnatcatcher, Bell's Vireo, and Tennessee Warbler. Though 1st off I'd say this bird is long-tailed looking, which should eliminate Tennessee. The undertail appears right-on for California Gnatcatcher, but the facial appearance looks pretty extreme for even a basic pl. male. (Though I can't say I have any experience with CAGN), with a large eye ring and supercillium, doesn't feel right for CAGN. Bell's Vireo is what I am leaning towards, broken eye-ring, supercillium, lores don't look too dark, more of a shadow than dark in my opinion. Long tail, seems Bell's Vireoish to me. Though I look forward to hearing more thoughts on this.
Ryan Shaw
Olympia WA
rtshaw80@aol.com