ML132890191
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
This was a conspicuously small bird, yet it seemed large for a warbler. Despite its smaller size and the fact that it walked instead of hoping, this bird was more like a thrush than a warbler, and this bird in particular walked with its tail held downward in the plane of the body. I further noted that the bill was stouter basally and with a blunt tip that was more like a thrush than a warbler. The forehead was steeper than that of a thrush and the head seemed to have a more domed appearance. I thought the neck was inconspicuous, but the body seemed to have a more pot-bellied appearance than that of the thrush. The wings were of medium-length, with the primary projection about half the length of the exposed secondaries, and maybe four primaries evident in the exposed wingtip, which I thought reached to about the tips of the uppertail coverts. This tail seemed shorter than I often associate with this species, in that it was maybe as long as the body without the head, if even this long. The tail was also parallel-sided and with rounded corners, but I cannot now recall if it was notched at the tip. This bird had muted colors for a warbler, and in fact, its patterns were quite thrush-like. There were two relatively narrow stripes of black running from the base of the upper mandible up the forehead and a cross the crown to the nape, where they faded out. I noted clearly both that the black stripes reached the bill and that they did not connect across the forehead. They also did not connect on the nape even though they seemed to angle inward slightly at their terminus. Between the two black stripes was a band of dull orange that seemed to extend from the forehead back to the nape, yet it ended before the black stripes, so the olive color of the neck extended upward between the rear ends of the black stripes. The face was generally the same shade of olive-brown a the upperparts, but there was a white eyering that was complete and relatively well-defined and also a more diffuse region of pale coloration in the lores. The lower edge of the olive on the face extended down to the moustachial region. I cannot now recall if there was a dark moustachial-stripe, but I noted quite clearly a broad, white submoustachial-stripe that was separated from the white throat by a blackish malar stripe that was narrow yet it flared slightly as it extended back along the outer edges of the throat. I also did not think the malar stripe made it all the way to the base of the lower mandible, but it came close to doing so. The underparts were white throughout. The breast, sides, flanks, and at least the upper belly were marked throughout with black streaks that were well-defined and at least relatively bold. I am less sure if the lower belly was streaked and I am not sure I ever saw clearly this bird's undertail coverts. The upperparts were olive-brown and effectively unmarked. I thought I saw a weak pattern on the wings that may have reflected fringes on the coverts and remiges that were very slightly paler than the centers of these feathers, but the contrast may instead have represented the shadows resulting from the placement of the various feathers. I did think the exposed wingtips were more brownish than the rest of the wing, but the contrast was minimal and even the rump and upperside of the tail contrasted little, if at all, with the back and wings. The bill was mostly dark, but I thought the base of the lower mandible and maybe also the cutting edges basally were a pale flesh color. The eyes were certainly dark, and I have little doubt that the legs were pale, but to be honest, I cannot recall this with any degree of certainty.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 7D
- Lens
- EF400mm f/5.6L USM
- ISO
- 1600
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/8.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/1250 sec
- Dimensions
- 2115 pixels x 1645 pixels
- Original file size
- 3.44 MB