ML644221096

Observation details

Initially the eyes looked dark and I assumed that this was a red-eyed migrant from the north. With better views I realized that the irises were brown, pale enough that I could see the pupil. (According to Cornell's Birds of the World, eyes are "Sepia brown, light brown, or reddish brown in Juvenile and first autumn, becoming red in winter in both sexes of northern birds, pale straw yellow in Florida birds.") Upperparts were the plain brown of an adult female, the only markings being on the tertial edges, the uppermost whitish, the two lower ones buff. Twice it flitted its tail like a Hooded Warbler, showing white outer tail feathers.