ML21078771

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

INITIAL IMPRESSION Heard only at first. Partial song was identical to the tape we were playing. DESCRIPTION What stood out on this generally gray bird with real markings to speak of, was the large bill, slightly hooked at the tip. We were surprised that the bill appeared much larger proportionately than other vireos. The face lacked the 'spectacles' of the Plumbeous Vireo (Vireo plumbeous) and also lacked the distinctive clean break between the throat and the auriculars. Instead, this bird was medium gray above and grayish white below. The throat was grayish-white blending seamlessly with the medium gray face and head. There were no wingbars apparent at all. We had been expecting to see some trace of wingbar (as shown in Sibley and National Geographic). Jon Dunn thought the covert tips forming the wingbars may had worn off by this time of year, i.e., a worn plumage. BEHAVIOR Both birds actively circled us from juniper to juniper, constantly singing and calling. They would fly into the middle of a juniper and slowly work their way to the top of the tree, vocalizing all the way, where they would perch just long enough to take a photo, then fly off to a different juniper. We did not notice the tail wagging behavior described in field guides, but maybe this activity blended into the general active character, so the wagging went unnoticed. VOCALIZATIONS The song was vireo-like¿phrases with deliberate pauses. It seemed to have four parts. An introductory upslur. A downslur on the same pitches. A lower pitched downslur. A final downslur ending much lower than any of the first three parts. The call is harder to describe, but generally it was a monotonous trill with a slight downslur.

Technical information

Model

E995

ISO

100

Focal length

31 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.8

Shutter speed

37023/10000000 sec

Dimensions

2048 pixels x 1536 pixels

Original file size

931.48 KB