Verification of Unusual
Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2019-17
| Common name: |
Prothonotary Warbler |
| Scientific name: | Protonotaria citrea |
| Date: | June 20, 2019 |
| Time: | 10:30 am |
| Length of time observed: | 20 seconds |
| Number: | 1 |
| Age: | Adult |
| Sex: | Male |
| Location: | Big Cottonwood Park in far southwest corner of park near intersection of S1590E and E Murray and Holladay Rd |
| County: | Salt Lake |
| Latilong: | 40.6786 degrees N, 111.8570 deg W |
| Elevation: | 4336 feet |
| Distance to bird: | 20 feet |
| Optical equipment: | Binoculars and naked eye |
| Weather: | About 70 degrees and partly cloudy |
| Light Conditions: | Cloudy bright |
| Description: Size of bird: | 5.5" |
| (Description:) Basic Shape: | Warbler shape |
| (Description:) Overall Pattern: | Orange yellow/blue gray |
| (Description:) Bill Type: | Black, fairly long |
|
(Description:)
Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics: |
Bright yellow head and chest, dark eye, white undertail, blue gray wings.
|
| Song or call & method of delivery: | Heard one very loud song with five notes: tsweet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet. |
| Behavior: | Typical warbler behavior of flitting and feeding along branches and leaves of midlevel trees. |
| Habitat: | Swampy area with tall trees. |
| Similar
species and
how were they eliminated: |
Visual Wilson's Warbler female/juvenile head not completely yellow, has eye ring, wing is greenish gray, and bill is not black. Blue-winged Warbler has white wing bars and black eye line. Yellow Warbler female has yellowish wings and back. Yellow Warbler male has yellowish wings and streaking on breast. No other species has the colors and patterns of body parts observed. Audible: I went to the eBird checklist for Big Cottonwood Park and clicked on the Show Rarities button. For all the passerines on the checklist I went to the internet and compared the electronic recordings of these birds to the Prothonotary Warbler. No other species sounds like the song of the observed. |
| Previous
experience with this & similar species: |
13Apr2019 Prothonotary Warbler in Texas. Ebird:S55440083 12Jun2012 Prothonotary Warbler in Utah. Ebird:S10965535 14Apr2019 Blue-winged Warbler in Texas. Ebird: S55440132 Extensive experience with similar species as they are relatively common in Utah. |
| References consulted: | Sibley, Ebird and other Internet Sources. |
| Description from: | Notes taken at the time of the sighting |
| Observer: | Rachel LeBlanc |
| Observer's address: | Herriman, UT |
| Observer's e-mail address: | ** |
| Other observers who independently identified this bird: | N/A |
| Date prepared: | June 23, 2019 |
| Additional material: | |
| Additional comments: |