ML582093721

Age and sex

Unknown age, Male - 1

Media notes

A cxontinuing male Kentucky Wabrler that was initially found earlier in the day by Dan Maxwell here photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 6 June 2023 near the Rock Camp Forest Service Station, San Bernardino National Forest, San Bernardino County, California.

Observation details

Giving almost constantly the distinctive “churry, churry, churry…” song, but I also heard a high-pitched “tseet” can some other soft notes that I suspect were given by this bird. It was only very late in my visit that I heard three or four “choip” calls that I also attributed to this bird. Seen four times, mostly about eye level, but the last sightings involved the bird within 10-15 centimeters of the ground in the undergrowth. Seen well from the front, but I saw the upperparts only briefly. This was a seemingly large and conspicuously plump warbler with a larger than average bill, a conspicuously short tail, and colorful plumage patterns. The bill seemed large for a warbler both in its length and mass, in that I thought it would have extended backward on the face to a point just behind the eye. I also thought the bill was stouter than those of most warblers, yet still relatively slim; however, I was unable to see clearly the shape at the tip. The forehead was sloping and I thought the crown was gently rounded, though I did not see the later overly well. The head was unremarkable in size for a warbler, but the neck was relatively short and stout, and the body was plump, full-chested, and with a posture that appeared to be roughly diagonal with the tail held downward in the plane of the body. I was unable to discern the primary projection, placement of the wingtips relative to the base of the tail, and even the shape of the wingtip, but I thought the tail was quite short for a warbler, in that it was no longer than the body without the head and neck, and likely even slightly shorter. I did note that the tapered undertail-coverts appeared to reach more than halfway to the tip of a tail that was weakly notched. The legs were at least relatively long, but they also appeared rather slim. This was a colorful bird, with the upperparts and wings a relatively bright, lime-green, and the underparts a shade of lemon-yellow that was rather different than the golden-yellow of the Fremontia flowers. I thought the forehead and crown were speckled with gray and black back to a point just above and behind the eye, behind which the rear part of the crown may have been more blackish back to the nape. The face pattern was dominated by a short, but well-defined, supercilium that was bright yellow and also quite narrow as it extended from the base of the upper mandible back through the supraloral region and over the eye, but it did not extend hardly at all behind the eye before ending abruptly. Connecting with the supercilium was an even narrower, line of yellow extending forward from behind the eye along its lower edge to a point maybe just below the leading edge of the eye. The combination of these yellow markings resulted in the appearance of incomplete spectacles, but not quite the same as that on a solitary vireo. Demarcating the “spectacles” was the black mask that extended through the lores and below the eye back across the auriculars. The lower edge of the mast appeared to extend back from near the gape along the lower edge of the moustachial and auricular regions, but it curved downward from the terminus of the latter before seemingly to expand slightly on the side of the neck, yet not reaching the shoulder. The black on the crown merged sharply at the nape with the green that extended back across the back and sides of the neck and seemingly throughout the back and wings. I did not see any suggestion of wingbars, but I did not see the wings overly well, and only had an impression that the remiges had a subtly striped pattern. I did not see the upperside of the tail at all clearly. The underparts were a bright, lemon-yellow from the chin down across the throat, breast, belly, and undertail coverts. I thought the yellow also extended onto the lower part of the face through the malar and submoustachial regions without a malar stripe. I did notice some olive on the sides of the neck just inside and below the mask, but I was less sure if the flanks were similarly marked. I was able to see that the entirely yellow undertail-coverts contrasted with what appeared to be dark olive on the underside of the tail. I thought the bill appeared to be entirely blackish, and I noted that the eyes were dark, but their precise color eluded me. The legs and feet were brightly colored, and seemingly fleshy or orangey-flesh, but I did not think they were pink.

Technical information

Model

ILCE-7RM5

Lens

FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS

ISO

800

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

3090 pixels x 1975 pixels

Original file size

8.83 MB