Blackburnian Warbler 9-2-08

On our closing net run on Tuesday, Sept 2, we captured an immature Blackburnian Warbler! Here are 4 pictures of the bird (click on photos for enlarged versions/greater detail):

For comparison, here's a shot of an immature female Townsend's Warbler (taken by Bob Whitlach in 2007):

Key features that helped in the ID of the Blackburnian (especially in separation from Townsend's Warblers which have similar patterning but different colors) include:

- brownish-gray cast to upperparts and head (greenish on Townsend's)

- orangy-yellow on chest and facial stripes (more pure yellow on
Townsend's)

- slight hint of a pale central crown stripe (seen on picture #4)

According to the list on idahobirds.net, it looks like this is the 6th report for this species in the state. This is the 3rd we have captured at Lucky Peak: 9-2-01 (1st state record), 9-7-05, and 9-2-08. Thus, looks like a pretty tight window in early Sept (similar to when we have captured some other eastern/northern vagrant warblers).

We also captured our first White-crowned Sparrow and Cedar Waxwing of the season yesterday - thus, 3 new species for the season in one day!

Cheers,

Jay