Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2018

Full sun with no wind. Air temp around 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of the encounter.

Vortex 8X42 Crossfire binoculars.
Nikon D3100 DSLR camera with a Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens.

Seen and heard in Massachusetts twice before.

A stand of young (10-30ft tall) ash and maple with a thick understory of shrubs and vines on the east edge of a grassy field. Birds heard and seen in the same habitat (within 500ft) included Golden-winged Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Northern Harrier (flew over while I was observing the Hooded Warbler), Northern Cardinal, American Robin, Black-and-White Warbler, and a Tufted Titmouse.

Heard singing about 100ft into the brush. He came out into the open about 30ft away after hearing my playback, and began calling aggressively and fluttering around quickly from branch to branch with wings tips extended away from his body, and his shoulders "shrugged" (See HOWA2.JPG). I left soon after.

Song was a melodic "taweet-taweet-taweee-ti-choo" with a loud, sharp end note that descended in pitch.
Calls were a metallic "chip".

I heard a bird singing in the brush, and pondered its identity for a couple seconds before realizing it could be a Hooded Warbler. I then positioned myself kneeling on the ground amongst a honeysuckle, and decided to use a Merlin app playback from a small handheld bluetooth speaker to draw the bird in for a positive identification. After one playback of the bird's song, I heard the bird had come closer (perhaps to 50ft), but it was still hidden. I then played a second repetition of the song followed by call notes. The bird then flew high into a maple tree where I could see it clearly for a positive ID. Realizing I had an adult male Hooded Warbler, I snapped many pictures as he fluttered from tree to tree in front of me perhaps 30ft away. I observed him calling (a metallic "chip") and exhibiting a stressed posture with wings tips extended away from his body, and his shoulders "shrugged" (See HOWA2.JPG), so I quickly decided to back off as to not bother him further.

A "Warbler-shaped" bird about perhaps just larger than half the length of an American Robin.

The eyes were striking black in a bright yellow mask with light gray lines extending to the bill. The yellow mask extended down and back from the eye about three eye lengths, and was surrounded by a black "hood". The black "hood" extended from the upper-breast to the throat, and wrapped around the yellow eye-mask to the crown of the bird. The nape was green, and extended into the black "hood".

The legs and feet were dull pink, and the legs were just shorter than the bird's tail. The bill was sharp, black, and had about the same proportions and shape as the bill of a Common Yellowthroat.

The upper back was a dull olive-green.

The lower back and rump were the same color as the upper back, a dull olive-green.

The wings were dull olive-green and were unmarked. When perched, the wings were pointed and extended just past the bird's rump. When flying, the ends of the wings were blunt, and the first three to four primaries could easily be distinguished.

The breast (starting from the edge of the black "hood") was a bright yellow extending into the belly, flanks, and the under tail coverts.

The tail was about four fifths the length of the bird's body, and was dull olive green above. The underside of the tail was not seen very well, but a flashing of a color lighter than that of the under tail coverts was observed in flight.

Yellow Warblers do not have a black hood.
Golden-winged and Lawrence's Warblers do not have black crowns or dull olive-green wings.
Black-throated Green Warblers do not have black crowns, and have white on their bellies and under tail coverts.

Plumage suggested an adult male.