Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Palm Warbler
Scientific name:	Setophaga palmarum
Date:	11/4/2023
Time:	11:19 am
Length of time observed:	15 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	Non-breeding adult/Juvenile
Sex:	Unknown
Location:	Bountiful Pond
County:	Davis
Latilong:	40.903110, -111.925979
Elevation:	4220 feet
Distance to bird:	15-30 feet
Optical equipment:	Swarovski 10x50 Binoculars. Canon R6 camera with 100-500 lens.
Weather:	Calm and mostly sunny with some cirrus clouds. Around 50 degrees F.
Light Conditions:	Mostly sunny with some haze and clouds.
Description: Size of bird:	Small
(Description:) Basic Shape:	Warbler shaped.
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Pale brownish with streaking. Bright yellow undertail coverts.
(Description:) Bill Type:	Pointy warbler-type bill.
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	I first noticed the Palm warbler in a low shrub foraging and pumping its tail up and down. With this tail-pumping motion and the bright yellow undertail coverts I immediately identified the warbler as a Palm warbler, as I have observed Palm warblers in other states. As I watched it, it continued to forage from very low to the ground to the top of the trees. It mixed in with the flock of foraging Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned warblers in the Russian olive trees. It was very easy to distinguish the bird from the other warblers because of its constant tail pumping, its pale, long supercilium and its bright yellow undertail coverts. I was also able to observe and photograph the underside of its tail showing its distinctive white terminal band and black squared base. None of the birds around it exhibited these characteristics. (see photos)
Song or call & method of delivery:	I did not hear it sing or call.
Behavior:	Foraging for flying insects - I saw it catch what looked like a flying ant. It was flying from shrub to tree, and tree to tree.
Habitat:	Riparian. Man-made lake with canals. Willow, Alder and Russian olive trees with grassy areas.
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Yellow-rumped warbler. The YRWA has a similar brown tone and streaky sides, but it does not pump its tail up and down and it does not have yellow undertail coverts. Orange-crowned warbler. The OCWA has a similar dark eyeline, yellow undertail coverts and streaky sides. However, it is more olive and gray toned, it does not wag its tail up and down and it does not have the long, pale supercilium as seen on the Palm warbler.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	I have observed and documented the Palm warbler in eBird on six separate occasions in Florida, Texas and New York.
References consulted:	Sibley's Guide to the Birds, 2nd Ed. The Warbler Guide, Stephenson and Whittle.
Description from:	Notes taken at the time of the sighting From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Mary McGreal
Observer's address:	3266 Sunset Hollow Dr, Bountiful, Utah 84010
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	I was birding alone, but several hours after me Vivian Schneggenburger and Connie Misket observed and photographed a Palm warbler at Bountiful Pond.
Date prepared:	11/5/2023
Additional material:	Photos
Additional comments:	eBird checklist S153736035