I posted this little guy on my website last spring as a pine warbler and I got an email from an ornithologist saying that he was scanning my site recently and thought it might be an orchard oriole instead. The bird was very small in size like a warbler so I'm sticking w/my original ID. Please provide verification. With that beak, I'm 99% sure its a warbler and I believe it is a pine warbler but I could be wrong. Thanks!
Last edited by Danny J Brown; 02-06-2010 at 07:59 AM.
Hi Danny- The beak is actually what gives it away IMO as something other than a warbler. Warblers, both new and old-world, for the most part have needle-like beaks used for gleaning insects amongst vegetation. Notice in this bird how deep and heavy the bill is, particularly at the base. I would buy female Orchard Oriole as an option for this bird. The oriole is definitely a bigger bird than your average warbler but Pine Warblers are fairly chunky as warblers go and size in general can sometimes fool you. Our brains integrate distance to subject in our perception of size and you might have perceived this bird to be smaller than it was if you thought you were closer to the subject than you really were. In a different context, I have many interesting discussions with people in Antarctica who swear they just saw a penguin out in the water that was about 10" tall, or the size of a seal. When I tell them the actual size of the subject I am rarely believed, initially at least!
Thanks for the quick response, John. This little guy has been a little troublesome for me because my wildlife biologist friend was sticking with pine warbler and the ornithologist from southern Missouri said orchard oriole. Although I don't know the ornithologist, he is very respected by those who work with him. I really agree with you on size perspective and how easily it is confused because we get that all of the time with wildlife reports at our conservation. Sooooo......orchard oriole it is!
Hey Danny! I would go with female Oriole also. The thickness of the bill base, the down curve and the two tones of the lower mandible say oriole to me.
Pine Warbler?
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