Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2023

Deirdre Loftus
Martha Adams

Calm to no wind. ~65F. Rising sun

Nikon 10x50 binos

Have seen the species a few times in South Carolina

Mature Walnut Tree - wb nuthatches in same tree. Tufted titmouse and black-capped chickadees also present in nearby birch tree.

Foraging by primarily hopping from branch to branch. It was not flying that often and when flying it was short to nearby branch all within the walnut tree. It was preferring the lower branches.

Adult bird made no vocalizations

This bird was observed on two occassions. I am describing the first observation made around 7:20 am. Later I was joined by Martha and Deirdre and observed the bird again as well as an additional bird around 8:00 am. Throughout I was with my 2 year-old toddler Ashton who had his binoculars in hand.

I noticed bird activity in and around my driveway and heard nuthatches. One nuthatch landed in the walnut tree and I went to get it in my binos. I immediately noticed another bird and saw briefly a bright yellow throat and white belly. The yellow was pure without tints of orange. The white was clean and bright. The bird was hoping between branches and the leaf cover was thick making for brief views. I again noticed the white belly and yellow throat and started to push myself to grab as much information as possible. I also noted the undertail pattern in that it was white with some black. After a couple minutes of poor views, it popped out and perched on a branch where I had clear unobstructed views. This was approximately 25ft away approx. 15 feet in the air and I was using my binoculars. I noticed the streaks on the sides, noted two white wing bars and saw the yellow behind the bill leading to a white eyebrow. The bird made no calls or song.

The bird flew to a more obstructed branch. I used that moment to grab my phone and looked up the yellow throated warbler because I was confident that it what it was. I noted on the Merlin app that the eyebrow and cheek patch were distinctive for the bird.

I tracked the bird down again and attempted to focus on the head with more detail.

Similar size although appeared slightly smaller than the white-breasted nuthatch that originally drew my attention to the bird. Otherwise no comparative species nearby for size. Overall, fit the description of a warbler sized bird.

Yellow at base of bill leading to a white eyebrow. Dark otherwise.

Small dark warbler bill. Did not not feet color.

Dark grey/black. Nothing else noted.

Dark. Nothing else noted

Two wing bars noticed. White bars on darker grey/black wing.

Bright yellow leading to clean white belly. Some black streaking on sides

White and black underneath. I did not remember/note the specific pattern but both were present

This bright yellow throat leaves some of the following as possibilities:
Yellow-throated Vireo - not this because of the streaking and white eyebrow. Also the head was dark and not yellow. Only yellow on head was right at base of bill.

Female/Immature Blackburnian Warbler - The white belly on this bird was clean and stirking. The blackburnian is not nearly as white or clean of a color. Also the white eyebrow was clear ruling out blackburnian

Northern Parula - Again white eyebrow separates here as this is absent on northern parula. The upper of the bird I saw was also darker without the bluish tint that the parula has.

Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler - This species which I don't know appears to have significant black on its chest. The bird I saw did not with bright yellow throat leading to clean white belly. Only black streaking on sides

After spending ~10-15 minutes with the bird, I texted the local group of birders and had to go inside with my toddler. About 45-60 minutes later, I went back outside with my wife and Martha Adams. This time it took about 10 minutes to locate the bird. We heard many chipping calls higher in the tree and eventually located the birds that were vocalizing. The first bird I was able to see in my binos (and I was expecting it to be the bird I saw earlier) was not the same bird. It was similar in most every way but the colors were muted. The throat was a pale dirty yellow and the belly wasn't nearly as white. I only had brief views but it was clear it was not the same bird. After some tracking and time, we observed the first bird (bright adult plumage bird I had seen before) closely associating with the second bird (dull plumage bird). I did not see direct feeding, but the birds were acting in a way that suggested feeding. At one point the birds sat on one branch inches apart for a couple minutes.

Deidre and possibly Martha saw an additional dull plumage bird. Martha's ebird list (https://ebird.org/checklist/S146751187) noted this birds as possible young, but we were not confident. We fully realize that nesting Yellow-throated Warbler would be remarkable, so leaving this here as a possibility.

The audio file attached is unedited and recorded from an iphone using Merlin app. You can hear my foot steps and my toddler. The high pitched calls (higher pitch than the background insect noise) that occur throughout were the noise that alerted us to the bird when Martha, Deirdre and I were looking. We believe these were begging calls of the juveniles.