After learning that Matt Heindel, Paul Lehman and Shawneen Finnegan had seen the Worm-eating Warbler yesterday near Aldrich Park at UC Irvine, I decided to make another try for this elusive bird. After searching for over an hour I located it about 10:30am by hearing a series of very high, sharp "tseep" notes accelerating in tempo. The quality and cadence of these notes reminded me more of a hummingbird than a warbler. The bird was behind a set of two gray "Social Science Trailers" marked "Bldg #203" which is the same place it was seen yesterday.
The bird foraged very actively, associating loosely with a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Frequently the bird changed direction abruptly while perched, jerking its whole body around and imparting a rather nervous, erratic behavioral pattern. It seldom remained in one place for more than a few seconds while I followed it around in the grove of eucalyptus just up the hill from the trailers. Out of about 15 minutes, I had the bird in view for probably no more than two minutes total. The sun was out, but this grove was shaded by the huge Social Science Tower directly behind it so all my sightings were in the shade. I do not think I would have ever seen this bird without hearing it call.
This is a very distinctive species. The following is based on notes made immediately after watching the bird:
This bird was apparently first found at nearby Aldrich Park on October 18, 1998 by Jim Pike and appears to be wintering locally. However it had been missed for the last several months until rediscovered January 10, 1999 by Matt Heindel. This was my fourth attempt.A rather plain, medium brown warbler with bold facial stripes, somewhat duller than average for the species.
The bill was relatively long and pointed and in good light appeared pale pinkish in color.
The head and face were a warm brown with a slight orange cast and were marked by bold black eyeline and lateral crown stripes on each side of the head. These stripes extended all the way to the nape, but did not meet at the back of the head.
The upperparts were uniformly olive-brown. The breast was a warm brown fading to a colder brownish gray on the belly and undertail coverts.
The tail was thin and unexpectedly longish looking. It appeared gray below showing no signs of tail spots. The undertail coverts were were gray with two blurry dusky marks visible on either side, visible only when the bird foraged high overhead.
The legs and feet were not noted.