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Re: Winter tanager
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: Re: Winter tanager
- From: "Rob G" <thrush@hotmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 02:04:07
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Robert Perkins wrote:
> I was emjoying a procession of "normal" winter birds, including
>pine and yellow-rumped warblers, when a strange bird appeard at the
>bird bath and then disappeared before I could examine it with
>binoculars. Fortunately it came back for a second visit and my wife
>spotted it. I got a good look at it. It was a tanager with a pale
>yellow bill, more beige than yellow. The bird was olive on top and
>yellowish olive underneath. The wings were darker than the body and
>showed definite but not prominent whitish wingbars. The best match
>in my NG guide is female western tanager. I also consulted Sibley,
>leading to the same conclusion.
> First, what is a tanager doing in the North Carolina sand hills
>in the winter? Second, are there alternatives to western tanager
>that I might have missed? The wing bars rule out summer tanager and,
>although the Sibley guide mentions that first year scarlet tanagers can
>have weak wing bars, the Sibley also notes incidences of >western tanagers
>showing up in the east in the winter.
> In my log I've listed the bird as a western tanager. However,
>I'm always open to good arguments.
>
>Bob
--------------------------------------
Female Baltimore or Orchard Oriole would be FAR MORE likely than Western
Tanager (are there ANY records of a W.T. in this area in winter?), and would
still be a good sighting. This is the sort of case where looking at one of
the photographic guides(Stokes, Audubon, Kaufmann) might prove very helpful
if you have one Bob -- once the possibilities have been narrowed down using
generic representations sometimes a bird absolutely jumps out at you when
looking at a photograph.
P.S. - Can someone tell me if there were any E. Grosbeaks or Snow Buntings
picked up on Triangle CBC's (and if so where) or how about R. Crossbills
this yr.?
**Rob Gluck Chapel Hill thrush@hotmail.com
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