Adding to the confusion -I was one of the people who saw the vireo this morning
when it first appeared around 9 AM. It was seen by a small group of us off and
on for about 10-15 minutes before it disappeared. There is lots of dense
shrubbery for it or any bird to disappear in. When I saw Anthony Collerton's
photos I was surprised at the prominence of the white area between the bill and
the eyes. I don't recall it looking like that when we watched it, and he was
near me when the photos were taken. To my eyes the white does not look as
prominent in the first 2 photos (and is more consistent with what I remember),
but is striking in the 3rd and to a lesser degree the 4th photo. I'm wondering
if the camera angle and lighting might have made this more striking. The field
mark that stood out most in life was the lower wing bar, and at times the
contrast between the gray head and upper body( especially from a rear view),
which was greenish. I don't know if this is diagnostic or just supportive. A
recording was played a few times and once the bird did come in close, seeming
to respond. I also heard a vocalization once which, given Shai's comment, was
probably the House Wren. We did not hear any chip notes or calls other than
what I just mentioned. I remember commenting that the bird was very plain faced
and others also said the same, which again caused me some surprise when i saw
Anthony's photos. The yellow on the flanks was very faint in sunlight but more
prominent in the shade, although not that strong to my eyes. Somewhat confused
after Kevin's observation I checked a few sources which only cleared things up
somewhat. The most troubling reference ( as far as it being a Bell's) was in
Sibley, where on pg 347 in the large guide he shows a worn juvenile White-eyed
which is similar to what we saw, including the gray head. The books say that
this subspecies of Bell's (Bellii) is a tail wagger, and this bird did not wag
its tail. But this is also the case with Prairie warblers for example, which
often do not wag their tails. The other mildly troubling behavioural trait was
the cocked tail. At first the vireo we saw did not have its tail cocked, but a
few minutes later it did hold its tail tilted upwards. However in the Stokes
Field Guide to North America on page 488 is a photo of a Texan Bell's that
looks pretty close to what we saw. I also checked Corey Finger's 1000 birds
where he has good photos of the Cape May Bell's Vireo last December which also
matches up pretty well to what we saw. Corey was taking photos today so maybe
some more photos will help. I remember a bit of excitement over 10 years ago in
Hempstead Lake State Park in April when a potential Bell's was seen. This
turned out to be a dark-eyed White-eyed Vireo and I don't remember struggling
with it that much. So I left this morning thinking I had a state bird and now
I'm not so sure, although I'm still favoring (Hoping for?) Bell's There is also
the possibility that there are 2 different birds. The only other vireo we saw
in the 2-3 hours was a red-eyed, although others had a White-eyed a bit further
down the path. Dave
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