Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Worm-eating Warbler
Scientific name:	Helmitheros vermivorum
Date:	18 May 2023
Time:	11:29 am
Length of time observed:	A minimum of 11 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	AHY
Sex:	unknown
Location:	In the understory of a grove of cottonwood on the flood plain just to the north of Pleasant Creek, Capitol Reef National Park
County:	Wayne
Latilong:	38 11'00.35" N, 111 10'38.78" W
Elevation:	2940 m (based on Google Earth)
Distance to bird:	30 feet
Optical equipment:	EL 10X42 Swarovski
Weather:	Clear, calm, warm.
Light Conditions:	Excellent - light was bright (sun above and to my right) but upper canopy reduced/eliminated glare and contrasts.
Description: Size of bird:	a bit larger than the average warbler
(Description:) Basic Shape:	a short-tailed somewhat squat warbler
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Mostly olive with low contrast other than the crown. See description
(Description:) Bill Type:	slender and pointed bill - larger than any other warbler that I see regularly in the West..
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	Foraging for insects under peeling bark on dead understory cottonwoods and dead branches of live cottonwoods along Pleasant Creek. Striped head (black stripes contrasting with orangish buff stripes that are the color of the throat) with black stripes going through the eyes. Plain olive green back, wings and tail (no wing bars or stripes). Orangish buff throat and upper breast, paler belly. Long bill that is dark along top and flesh color below. Legs are flesh colored. Somewhat short tail. Watched foraging then resting in great light from 30 ft from below eye level when briefly foraging in a tangle and on ground up to 20ft above ground. (this is what I wrote at the time with some slight editing made now to help clarify)
Song or call & method of delivery:	No vocalizations heard.
Behavior:	See description. What struck me most was its searching and probing under the peeling bark on small mostly horizontal dead cottonwood side branches and dead limbs of live cottonwoods. I expected it to forage more on the ground, but it stayed mostly eye level or above perhaps because it was finding insects (I saw it get at least one caterpillar from under peeling bark). It would forage intently for awhile then pause and sometimes preen.
Habitat:	Cottonwoods with a fair amount of dead and live understory. The cottonwoods were mostly slender, younger, medium height (probably averaged about 30 feet but I am writing this now from my memory).
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	I don't know of what I would call a similar species found in North America. I just looked up on the Sibley app for similar species. All three species listed - Swainson's Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, and Red-eyed Vireo - can be eliminated easily. I have never seen a Swainson's Warbler, but the distinct crown of the Worm-eating Warbler eliminates this alternative. The plumage and behavior of what I saw does not come close to matching the waterthrush. The same for the Red-eyed Vireo as the plumage and bill don't fit and there was plenty of cottonwood canopy nearby in which to forage yet this bird never ventured into the upper canopy.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	I have observed Worm-eating Warblers perhaps 5 times in the United States. I've seen Northern Waterthrushes and Red-eyed Vireos a fair number of times over the last 40 years.
References consulted:	I knew immediately what I was looking at as there is nothing to confuse it with in North America when the lighting and views were excellent as they were and the bird was not flitting around but foraging methodically with occasional short flights. But I did look at Sibley on my phone after I watched the bird for several minutes to make sure I checked and re-checked for every field mark that Sibley described.
Description from:	Notes taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Craig W Benkman
Observer's address:	7001 Foxton Court
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	None
Date prepared:	3 August 2023
Additional material:
Additional comments:	I recognize the value of having photographic documentation, but there is nothing even several months after I reported it that would suggest to me that I could have confused this bird with any other species regularly occurring in North America. I am as certain of this identification as when I see an American Robin on my lawn. If you need some verification of my field abilities and the likelihood I mis-identified this bird after watching it from 30 feet for at least 11 minutes around eye level in excellent light, you might contact Scott Robinson <srobinson@flmnh.ufl.edu> who I have birded with in the US and on three other continents.