Pine warbler, Dendroica pinus, photographed in a backyard in Houston, Texas, USA.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 January 2011 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Question: This is the third North American mystery bird species to visit this same bird feeder that you've been looking at these past three days. I am not sure if you can identify this species from this photograph, so I'll give you two hints: this bird breeds exclusively on just one side of the Rocky Mountains and this bird's common and scientific names come from its preferred nesting habitat.
Response: This is a pine warbler, Dendroica pinus, a migratory wood-warbler that breeds in the eastern woodlands of North America. This species only nests in pine forests, and is almost never found in deciduous forests except during migration. This species is identified by its yellow throat and chest with dark streaks on its sides and its contrasting creamy white belly. Unfortunately, these field marks are not clearly visible on this photograph, although you can see its distinctive two white wingbars.
Here's another look at the same individual. I don't think this image is any more diagnostic than the previous one, but it does provide a slightly different look at this bird, and makes visible a few field marks (yellow breast with dark streaks and yet another hint of its cream-coloured belly) that were obscured in the image above:
Pine warbler, Dendroica pinus, photographed in a backyard in Houston, Texas, USA.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 January 2011 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.
