ML23931001

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Photographs copyright Rob and Ann Simpson.

Observation details

Recorded on 10:00 a.m., 12 October 2003 at Little Island Recreation Park, Virginia Beach, adjacent to the northern end of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Winds overnight had been N at 20 mph and the morning wind was NNW at 7 mph. The bird's skull was not pneumaticized, indicating a HY (hatching year) bird although some wood-pewees retain areas of unpneumaticized skull into their second fall. The following plumage criteria helped confirm the HY age. The lesser coverts were cinnamon edged; the median and greater secondary coverts were buffy with a few having cinnamon edging; the outer rectrices, primaries, and primary coverts were all relatively tapered and not truncate. Species identification: The distance between the longest uppertail covert and tip of the tail was 26 mm [A]. This is well out of the range of Eastern Wood-Pewee (31.4 - 40.1 mm) and towards the lower end (24.9 - 33.9 mm) of Western The longest primary minus the longest secondary was 25 mm [B]. The formula A-B = 1. Less than 6.5 mm in this formula indicates Western. Again, this was well into the WEWP range and well out of EAWP. The back color lacked green overtones - it looked very much like a Willow Flycatcher's back. The crissum smudges were quite distinct compared with the EAWPs we have banded. The breast band was dark and complete (no central light area as seen in EAWP) The lower mandible was mostly dark - very similar to the picture in Pyle's book on page 215 figure 142-A, indicating WEWP. The lower wing bar was thicker than the upper wing bar and was quite dull and diffuse (see Sibley's illustration) compared to an equivalent-aged EAWP. The sides of the underparts lacked the indistinct streaks that are usually present in EAWP.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 10D

ISO

100

Focal length

100 mm

Dimensions

683 pixels x 1024 pixels

Original file size

42.84 KB