Pine warblers in VT

[mfoster.vt]

I came across a small group of birds today that my first impression was  of Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, but the birds seemed too big for this.  I concentrated on getting photos, so could not pick out details well through my view finder.  This group of birds were in a couple isolated small trees in the middle of some wide open fields.  That coupled with them being in a small flock of 8 or more, made me think of kinglets as I have often seen groups of kinglets together.  With my impression of size and the photos, I now think that maybe most were Pine Warblers, but that last bird has me stumped, as there are no wing bars.  Totally surprised to find warblers in these isolated trees.

Most of the birds looked like these.  Distinct wing bars and an eye line with arcs of eye rings which all seem  to match Pine.

This bird looks very similar to the others, but lacks the wing-bars.  The faint streaking on the breast must point to another warbler, but I can't figure it out.

[egosnell2002]

You're right on the first two, but the second group if photos is a Palm Warbler. The best thing to look for on them is the bright yellow undertail and vigorous tail pumping,.

[mfoster.vt]

Ah, thanks egosnell.  I actually was wondering about Palm for that bird but it was so similar to the Pine that it had me confused.  Thanks for the help.

[blackburnian]

The last photo in the second set is Pine. 

[Tony Leukering]

Adult male Pine

Immature female Pine

uncertain-subspecies (possible intergrade) Palm

ditto

probably adult female Pine

[akiley]

2 hours ago, Tony Leukering said:

Adult male Pine

Immature female Pine

uncertain-subspecies (possible intergrade) Palm

ditto

probably adult female Pine

Just for my knowledge, how common are intergrade Palm Warblers?

[mfoster.vt]

Ok, I am totally missing how everyone is coming up with pine for the last photo.  To me it just looks like another angle of the same bird in the previous 2 photos but there must be a clue leading to female pine that I am missing (rather than palm, or intergrade palm).  Not saying that the bird is definitely the same as in the previous 2 photos, but I thought it was.  There were about 10 warblers flitting around in the trees in front of me, and I just picked the birds I could get a good shot of, so bounced from bird to bird.

[akiley]

23 minutes ago, mfoster.vt said:

Ok, I am totally missing how everyone is coming up with pine for the last photo.  To me it just looks like another angle of the same bird in the previous 2 photos but there must be a clue leading to female pine that I am missing (rather than palm, or intergrade palm).  Not saying that the bird is definitely the same as in the previous 2 photos, but I thought it was.  There were about 10 warblers flitting around in the trees in front of me, and I just picked the birds I could get a good shot of, so bounced from bird to bird.

Last bird is a Pine- what I'm seeing is darker and more distinct streaking on the flanks compared to fall plumage Palm, lack of a strong eyeline as well as supercilium (Pines show only a little black in the front of the eye, and not much behind), and thicker bill, which we can tell from a certain extent just seeing the base here.

[mfoster.vt]

Thanks for that description akiley.  It helps a lot in my quest to get better at ID of the fall warblers.

[Tony Leukering]

On 9/26/2018 at 5:05 PM, akiley said:

Just for my knowledge, how common are intergrade Palm Warblers?

Not horribly rare, not common, and since the overlap zone is north and west of VT, probable there.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Tony Leukering
added a thought