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Thread: Its a warbler... but which one?? ***copied to "All About Birds"***

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    Default Its a warbler... but which one?? ***copied to "All About Birds"***

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    this one has me baffled, I have looked through my books and cant figure out exactly which one it is, I am not to familiar with them so some assistance would be nice :)

    Canon 7D, 500L + 1.4TC, ISO 200, F 6.3 1/500 with flash, small crop ~ 15 %

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Nice comp, exposure looks good as does the sharpening. I'd prefer the lime-green leaf at bottom not be there, as well as the two strands hanging behind in URC. HA a wee bit off. Love the leaves in ULC.

    A tough one for sure! The drab plumage for this time of year likely makes this a female. Obvious field marks to watch are the wingbars, yellowish legs/feet combo (I believe the "black" leg is caused by the shadow), white undertail coverts, what appears to be faint strewaking on the breast, and faint yellowish wash to the face area.

    Still a tough one, I cannot be certain but it may be a Blackpoll Warbler. I will copy this to the "All about birds" forum to get the ID experts to chime in...
    Last edited by Daniel Cadieux; 05-19-2011 at 08:00 PM. Reason: typo

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Good capture - warblers are certainly tough. I'd second Daniel's comments about the lime-green leaf; I might be tempted to remove it with some cloning. And the HA isn't perfect. But the bird is sharp and the rest of the BG is nice. I'd be pleased. Looks to me like a good match to Sibley's rendition of a female Blackpoll.

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    thanks guys I had it narrowed down to the blackpoll and I forget the other one now

    I agree on the items your talking about removing, I tried but couldn't do it without it looking a little fake ... I still need to increase my PS skills :)

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    Considering the ID, I agree Blackpoll is a candidate, but this time of the year the females
    should look bit different than this bird. One thing that strikes me whenever I see a Blackpoll
    is how much yellow the feet are. I don't think I see enough of it here. Next Blackpoll
    should have very bright white undertail coverts. I see a bit of yellow here.
    One thing that is prominent is the incomplete white eye-ring and white wing-bars,
    a sign of a Dendroica. Dan is right, faint breast streaking, bit of yellow on the face
    grey cheeks perhaps....

    I'm afraid you've got yourself a female Cape May....

    Cheers,

    Ilija

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    I think I am going to stick to ducks those are so much easier to distinguish, I can tell a wood vs Mallard no problem :) lol

    thanks for the info Ilija

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ilija Dukovski View Post
    Considering the ID, I agree Blackpoll is a candidate, but this time of the year the females
    should look bit different than this bird. One thing that strikes me whenever I see a Blackpoll
    is how much yellow the feet are. I don't think I see enough of it here. Next Blackpoll
    should have very bright white undertail coverts. I see a bit of yellow here.
    One thing that is prominent is the incomplete white eye-ring and white wing-bars,
    a sign of a Dendroica. Dan is right, faint breast streaking, bit of yellow on the face
    grey cheeks perhaps....

    I'm afraid you've got yourself a female Cape May....



    Cheers,

    Ilija
    Humm! I see yellow feet and the wingbars don't look good to me for Cape May? I'm no eastern warbler expert though!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Brown View Post
    Humm! I see yellow feet and the wingbars don't look good to me for Cape May? I'm no eastern warbler expert though!
    Dan, I think Blackpol wingbars the shoulder is smaller than covers bar,
    in Cape May I think it is the opposite. Why do you think these don't look like Cape May?
    Young female? One thing I also know for Cape Mays females is that they are very often overlooked since they are kind of non-descript. This bird is like that IMO.

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    [QUOTE=Jamie Strickland;671468 I can tell a wood vs Mallard no problem :) lol

    thanks for the info Ilija[/QUOTE]

    Yes but can you tell Greater from Lesses Scaup lol
    In any case it great fun, isn't it?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ilija Dukovski View Post
    Dan, I think Blackpol wingbars the shoulder is smaller than covers bar,
    in Cape May I think it is the opposite. Why do you think these don't look like Cape May?
    Young female? One thing I also know for Cape Mays females is that they are very often overlooked since they are kind of non-descript. This bird is like that IMO.
    I am not very experienced with this species but from what I can see in my Nat. Geo. guide, the lower wing bar, the crown color and the faint streaking on the flanks seems to match female Blackpoll and now that I'm looking, female Pine also more than Cape May. But, as you say, this bird is "kind of non-descript". A tough one!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Brown View Post
    I am not very experienced with this species but from what I can see in my Nat. Geo. guide, the lower wing bar, the crown color and the faint streaking on the flanks seems to match female Blackpoll and now that I'm looking, female Pine also more than Cape May. But, as you say, this bird is "kind of non-descript". A tough one!
    Dan,

    Great that you mention Pine warbler, that is another Dendroica, they are all
    very close related genus of finches after all. I think the undertail size and color
    is key when it comes to Pine warbler. This bird is too yellowish there for a Pine, IMO.
    Of course I might be wrong, just an opinion. I think Cape May are in large part overlooked
    birds exactly because they are not too prominent, just like this one. One sees a warbler, kind of yellow, not sure, some wingbars, streaked breast, etc. etc. and never reports a Cape May. Tough ones in any case....

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ilija Dukovski View Post
    Dan,

    Great that you mention Pine warbler, that is another Dendroica, they are all
    very close related genus of finches after all. I think the undertail size and color
    is key when it comes to Pine warbler. This bird is too yellowish there for a Pine, IMO.
    Of course I might be wrong, just an opinion. I think Cape May are in large part overlooked
    birds exactly because they are not too prominent, just like this one. One sees a warbler, kind of yellow, not sure, some wingbars, streaked breast, etc. etc. and never reports a Cape May. Tough ones in any case....
    Yes, I agree with you, Ilija, a tough one! I think that with more in-the-field experience, I would be more confident here, but I am only looking at the guides which can fall short on some of the finer points like the ones that you are sighting. You are probably right, Cape May. A very informative thread on warbler ID here!

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