Orange-crowned Warbler?

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Greetings. My best guess is Orange-crowned Warbler. But high levels of uncertainty...

94922

California coast (Santa Cruz) woodland scrub near beach.

I would appreciate some id help. Thanks much.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Paul Lagasi]

Broken eye ring fits..not much of an eye stripe..good call on female Orange-crowned but I'm no expert :bg3:

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Paul,

Greetings. Thanks much. I'm sure you're more expert than I :w3...

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Dave Irons]

Michael,

Your bird is an Orange-crowned Warbler and it can even be aged. Adult Orange-crowned Warblers, like other members of the Oreothlypis (formerly Vermivora) genus, have all dark bills that are very pointed at the tip. Only as juveniles do Orange-crowned Warblers have a paler more fleshy colored bill. Additionally, the tip of the bill on a juvenile is not nearly as pointed as it is on an adult. Also, your image is sharp enough that you can see some bright yellow right at the base of the gape. This yellow gape "flange" is almost universally shown by young songbirds, which typically have bright yellow or orange mouth linings when in the nest. It is believed that the flash of bright yellow/orange one sees when nestlings/hatchlings open their mouths and to beg triggers an instinctual feeding response in adults. If you go to the link below and click on the "Identification Photos" tab below the feature photo, image #1 in the thumbnail gallery is a juvenile Orange-crowned that I photographed near Eugene, OR on 24 July 2009. It is not as good as yours, but you can see the similarities in bill color, bill sharpness, and the yellow gape flange. Image #2 with the cocked head is another shot of the same juvenile.

http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/orange-crowned-warbler-vermivora-celata

Dave Irons
www.birdfellow.com