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Re: Possible "Sutton's" Warbler



On Mon, 20 Sep 1999 BIRDINFOOL@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Yesterday(9/19), in a mixed flock of warblers near the Saluda River in 
> Lexington county I observed what I think was a "Sutton's" Warbler.  I first 
> noticed the back of the bird and thought that it was just a Northern Parula 
> because it had a greenish-yellow patch on its back; but when it turned to the 
> side, I noticed a black "triangle" patch under the eye.  My next thoughts 
> were of a Golden-Winged Warbler when I saw the black patch but it had a 
> yellow throat not a black one. I studied the bird further and noticed two 
> white wing bars a yellow throat and chest(without the dark band of a male 
> parula) a white eye-line above the black triangle patch and the distinctive 
> greenish-yellow patch on its back. I then anxiously went back to the truck to 
> get my field guide to look up what I thought might be a "Sutton's" because I 
> still wasn't sure it wasn't some other hybrid.  After looking through 
> Petersons guide I can't come to any other conclusion than that of a 
> "Sutton's".  If any of you out there can give me some other possibilities I 
> will gladly read them all.

Any possibility that this could be yet another variation on the Magnolia 
Warbler fall plumages which have been confusing everyone (Mike Schultz, 
Norm Budnitz, Shelley Theye) lately? During my exciting NAMC at Ebenezer 
Point SRA on Saturday, I spotted a bird which was obviously not a Parula, 
but which had a greenish-yellow triangle on its back. My first thought 
was also Sutton's Warbler. However, Sutton's Warbler should, other than 
the back patch and its song, look like a Yellow-throated Warbler, with 
black patches around the eyes and extensive black down the sides of the 
yellow throat, and a white breast. My bird had yellow from the throat 
well down onto the breast, bordered only by the gray upperparts, and no 
black on the face. After the count, I checked on-line with the Patuxent 
Bird Identification Infocenter, and their site had a photo of a Magnolia 
Warbler showing a yellow-green patch on the back, just like a Parula or 
Sutton's. So I ticked my bird off as another Magnolia. Not so sure that 
Roger's was too, but male Maggies have wing bars and black masks in 
breeding plumage... Does this sound right to you folks who have the all- 
warbler guides?

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/