Verification of Unusual
Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2024-90
| Common name: |
Black-throated Green Warbler |
| Scientific name: | Setophaga virens |
| Date: | 12/7/2024 |
| Time: | 3:55 |
| Length of time observed: | 10 minutes |
| Number: | 1 |
| Age: | |
| Sex: | |
| Location: | 230 W 500 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 |
| County: | Salt Lake City |
| Latilong: | |
| Elevation: | |
| Distance to bird: | 10' |
| Optical equipment: | Svarovski 8.5x42 binos, Nikon DSLR with 150-600mm lens |
| Weather: | overcast, cold, high 30's low 40s |
| Light Conditions: | overcast, but otherwise bright |
| Description: Size of bird: | medium warbler |
| (Description:) Basic Shape: | songbird |
| (Description:) Overall Pattern: | white, black, yellow |
| (Description:) Bill Type: | thin |
|
(Description:)
Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics: |
White underside with black streaking on the flanks. Black more dense on
throat but almost equally white under chin. Yellow head with olive-grey
cap and eyestripe. Bright white wingbars on dark grey (nearly black)
wings (see photos) |
| Song or call & method of delivery: | I located this bird first through a chip sound which was distinct from Yellow-rumped Warblers I'd heard earlier in the city |
| Behavior: | foraging in the pine tree behind the hotel |
| Habitat: | in a pine tree behind a hotel in a heavily developed part of downtown with many hotels and businesses |
| Similar
species and
how were they eliminated: |
I assumed this would be a Townsend's Warbler when I first saw it, but it
looked like a Black-throated Green, which I'm more familiar with, so I
submitted to iNaturalist and the Utah
Rare Bird Alert Facebook group and got the following comments on why it
wasn't a Townsend's: -Limited olive on the auriculars, and little to no yellow on the upper breast - yellow vent strap |
| Previous
experience with this & similar species: |
I'm not from here and didn't realize how rare it was here or I would've put more work into ID'ing it and getting the word out. I thought it looked like a Black-throated Green (I get those in my yard in Louisiana during migration) but I was secretly hoping it was a western warbler like a Townsend's (haha, sorry). |
| References consulted: | |
| Description from: | From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting |
| Observer: | Jody Shugart |
| Observer's address: | 121 Belle Terre Blvd, Covington, LA 70433 |
| Observer's e-mail address: | ** |
| Other observers who independently identified this bird: | |
| Date prepared: | 12/16/2024 |
| Additional material: | |
| Additional comments: |