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Bay-breasted vs. Blackpoll ?





The flocks of warblers at Crabtree this weekend included half a dozen or so
individuals of the fall Bay-breasted/Blackpoll type.  This was my first
opportunity to leisurely study these birds and I had a few questions.  While the
birds were fairly easy to separate from Pine Warbler (streaking on the back,
distinct wing bars, white tipped primaries and tertials), some birds remained
quite confusing.  The variety of birding books provides some clues, but no magic
bullets.  The Dunn "Warblers" was perhaps the most helpful, but some of the
birds did not match well to any of the illustrated plates.  Other books were not
nearly as helpful with one indicating all fall Blackpolls have yellowish legs, a
point disputed by other references.  So my questions are as follows....

1) Has anyone experienced Blackpolls that do not have ANY yellow/straw
coloration on the legs?  Most books, including Dunn, indicate straw to yellowish
legs on Blackpoll.  Dunn goes further and indicates SOME fall Blackpolls can
have darker legs, but nearly always have yellow soles on the feet and yellow
anterior and posterior legs (although the sides may be darker).

2) While I have noticed quite a few reports of Bay-breasted over the last week
or so in the Carolinas, I have not noticed reports of Blackpoll.  Could this be
because the Blackpoll migrates later, or are some of these fall birds not
identified to species because of the similarity to Bay-breasted, with only the
better marked (i.e. adult male) Bay-breasted being reported?  I did pull Wayne
Forsythe's Jax Park early and late dates for fall warblers out of the file.  It
indicated an early date of Blackpoll of 9/27 or so, with Bay-breasted arriving
two weeks earlier.  Does this separation of arrival dates in Sept. hold for the
piedmont as well?

3) One individual bird provided really good looks from below and above as it
foraged less than 6 feet away.  The bird was generally washed with a buffy
yellow underneath, perhaps a little stronger at the area where the rear of the
wings fold against the body.  Close observation showed very fine streaking, kind
of like you see in an Orange-crowned, but with no areas of more concentrated
stippling.  No chestnut or bay coloration under the wings.  The underside of the
tail appeared quite light, although the yellowish wash extended nearly to the
base of the tail.  The bird exhibited strong white wing bars, and from above the
edges of the primaries and tertials appeared white giving an almost empid look
to the folded wings.  The bird had an olive-yellowish back with slightly darker
olive stripes.  Light eyeline, legs appeared all dark, no yellow on soles.  I
tentatively identified this bird as an immature/female Bay-breasted and would be
interested in any comments on this conclusion as this bird seemed to represent
the crux of the issue between the two species.


Thanks for any input!
Steve Shultz
Cary, NC
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