| Common Name | Yellow Warbler |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Setophaga petechia |
| Type of Report | Out-of-Season |
| Date of Observation | 12/07/2018 |
| Number Observed | 1 |
| Reporting Observer's Name | Ronald Payne |
| Mailing Address | 496 Weybridge St. Middlebury, VT 05753 United States Map It |
| Email hidden; Javascript is required. | |
| Date Completed | 11/09/2018 |
| Names & Emails of Other Contributing Observers | Spencer Hardy |
| Latitude of Observation (enter 0 if unable to provide) | 44.019061 |
| Longitude of Observation (enter 0 if unable to provide) | -73.183648 |
| Place Name | Middlebury College property |
| Township | Weybridge |
| County | Addison |
| Vermont eBird Checklist URL | ebird.org |
| Time of Day | 08:03 AM |
| Length of Time Observed | 5 minutes |
| Maximum Estimated Distance from Bird (in feet) | 20 |
| Minimum Estimated Distance from Bird (in feet) | 10 |
| Noteworthy Weather Conditions | Unseasonably warm for the date. |
| Optical Equipment Used for Observation | Pentax 8x42 DCF |
| Observer’s Previous Acquaintance With This or Similar Species | Extremely familiar with this species. |
| I certify that any attachments included with this report were captured during this observation event. | |
| Description of Habitat | Edge of a Cattail marsh with shrubs and young trees. |
| Behaviors Observed | Bird was gleaning for food on tree and shrub branches, and on the ground in a grassy area. |
| Description of Vocalizations | None heard. |
| Verbal Narrative & Description of Observation | Spencer Hardy found this bird at this location on the morning of Tue, 5 Dec 2017. His report to the VTBIRD Listserv was as follows: "I was in Middlebury this morning and it felt like October, so I figured I would try and find the Common Yellowthroat Ron Payne had in the wetland behind Bicentennial Hall a few weeks back (I had one in the same spot a few winters ago). No yellowthroat, but a Yellow Warbler associating with a single chickadee." I went two days later to try to re-find and document the bird. I heard some chickadees as I was walking the trail and "spished" to make them pop out, which they did along with the Yellow Warbler. It spent the next couple of minutes gleaning in the trees and shrubs in front of me as I tried to get some pictures of it. I did manage a couple of blurry shots which are in the eBird checklist. After a couple of minutes the bird dissipated into the cattails nearby. I continued to walk along the trail and came across a flock of American Tree Sparrows, and while I was observing them, I spotted chickadees nearby again accompanied by the Yellow Warbler. This time the chickadees and Yellow Warbler were gleaning on the ground in some short grass. I was able to observer it for another couple of minutes between before it went out of sight into bushes. |
| Relative Size & Shape | Similar in size to nearby Chickadees, but smaller headed and slimmer bodied. |
| Head | All yellow plumage, darker and more olivie on the face and head, brighter on the throat. Dark eye. |
| Feet & Bill | Dark bill. Pink legs and feet. |
| Upper Back | Olive yellow. |
| Lower Back & Rump | Olive yellow. |
| Wings | Mostly yellow coverts. Olive yellow tertials with brighter yellow edging. Dark flight feathers with white edging. |
| Breast, Belly, Flanks, Under Tail Coverts | Yellow from breast to undertail coverts, brighter than the upper parts of the bird. Faint grayish streaking on flanks. |
| Tail | Short, Olive yellow above and brigther below. |
| IMPORTANT: What similar species were eliminated when making the identification and how was this bird different? | Lack of white wing bars and yellow under tail coverts rules out Pine Warbler. Brighter wing feather edging and yellow tail rules out Wilson's Warbler |
| Other Notes & Comments | Appeared to be an adult female. |
| This report was written from notes taken: | Written from Memory |
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