Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Fall Warbler Quiz

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
17 comments
OK, my peeps. Let's have a fall warbler quiz! I photographed this bird a few days ago in my yard in southeastern Ohio. Yes, it's a wood warbler and it's in non-breeding plumage.

You could even say it's a CFW: a Confusing Something Warbler. Or maybe the F just stands for Fall.

Please send in your best guess via the comments section below. I'll crown a winner in the next few days. The prize is bragging rights, baby.

Good luck and may the best bird watcher win!

17 comments:

On September 17, 2008 at 11:44 PM Michelle Tech said...

I'm taking a crack at it, even though I'm terrible at CFWs: pine warbler? I've had some tricky ones here in the Black Hills, and since we're typically on the edge of migration paths, I doubt myself even more.

On September 17, 2008 at 11:46 PM Anonymous said...

Looks like a Blackpoll Warbler
to me.
Hap in New Hope (MN)

On September 18, 2008 at 12:25 AM Neil Gilbert said...

Looks more like a Bay-breasted Warbler to me - warmer greenish-yellow overall than I would expect for a basic-plumaged BLPW. It also does not have any streaking below, which is good for BBWA. Lastly, there seems to be a very faint wash of buff on the sides.

-Neil G.

On September 18, 2008 at 6:31 AM Kathi said...

Oh, geez, Bill - you couldn't start with something easier?

My first guess was Pine, but after reading comments 2 & 3, I remembered the "bay-poll" warbler debates from last fall at Lake Erie.

Ugh - OK, put me down for one guess at Pine, but like the first commenter, I doubt myself.

~Kathi, the konfused

On September 18, 2008 at 7:31 AM rmharvey said...

One of my birding mentors taught me "if it is yellow and you can't figure it out, it is probably a Pine Warbler".

On September 18, 2008 at 8:17 AM Anonymous said...

I'm also going to call it a Bay-breasted Warbler.

On September 18, 2008 at 8:49 AM NCmountainwoman said...

Fall warbler works just fine for me.

On September 18, 2008 at 4:06 PM Anonymous said...

looks like a pine warbler hey bill keep posting quiz birds keeps me studying thanks for your efforts

On September 18, 2008 at 8:57 PM Anonymous said...

CFWs, the nemesis of bird watchers!

I'm gonna guess Bay-breasted Warbler because its legs appear darker than a Blackpoll Warbler's would be.

On September 18, 2008 at 9:54 PM Anonymous said...

chestnut sided???????? with all the years, i still am not fond of fall warbs

On September 18, 2008 at 9:58 PM Anonymous said...

Can I just say Baypoll Warbler? :)
I'd have to go with Bay-breasted Warbler.

On September 19, 2008 at 5:52 PM Anonymous said...

Definitely a Bay-breasted

On September 19, 2008 at 11:33 PM Mary said...

Definitely a warbler. ;o)

On September 20, 2008 at 9:10 AM Bill of the Birds said...

And the winner IS Neil Gilbert!
This is a bay-breasted warbler.
Thanks to all who played.

I'll post a fuller answer and explanation soon.

More ID Quiz Birds coming, too.

On September 22, 2008 at 9:13 AM dguzman said...

Aw gee, too late for the prize! Well, that, and the fact that I figured pine warbler too... Oops.

Great feature--keep 'em coming!

On September 23, 2008 at 5:29 AM animtreebird said...

Very beautiful bird. Nice photo. :)))

On October 10, 2014 at 5:41 PM Nick said...

One of three; I guess Blackpoll But a number of years ago my brother was banding birds on monomy point with two Phd Ornithologist. One bird in particular the two ornithologists were sure of their identification—yet they disagreed. My brother picked the third, A Blackpoll. This individual was hand held. Next spring the individual was caught again and turned out to be a Blackpoll.
So it goes. Who really know. But I am bidding on the Blackpoll.


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