s eo o Yello -b e I eXIC
STEVENG. MLODINOW ß 4819 GARDNERAVENUE ß EVERETT,WASHINGTON 98201 ß (EMAIL: [email protected]) KURTRADAMAKER ß 16313 E. CRYSTAl POINT DRIVE ß FOUNTAINHILLS, ARIZONA 85268 ß (EMAI/:[email protected])
Figure1.Typical Miraflores thornscrub woodland. Thiswoodland isdorninated bylegurnes inmany areas, though some locations have alarge live-oak component. Photo9raphbySteven 6.Mlodinow on25 March 2007.
Abstract Miraflores the nativewoodlands, but thereis alsoa sub- Thispaper documents the presenceof a Yel- Mirafloresis an agricultural village of approx- stantiallive-oak (Quercus spp.) and hackberry low-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus imately1400 people near the foothillsof the (Celtisspp.) component. An arroyothat usu- mornatus)at Miraflores,Baja Califorma Sur, Sierrade La Laguna.It is at an elevationof ap- allyhas water (in theform of a flowingstream Mexicofrom 25 Marchto 7 April 2007.A de- proximately200 metersand lies about 40 or pools)skirts the village, and there are often taileddescription of thebird fromfield notes kilometersnorth of SanJose del Caboand 40 smallpuddles of water in the fieldsand or- is provided,supplemented by photographs kilometers inland from the Sea of Cortez. The chardsfrom irrigation. Miraflores recently has and a sonogram.The circumstancessur- habitatis predominantlya mixture of planted becomewell known for harboringvagrant roundingthis birds detectionare discussed, andfallow agricultural fields (induding small birds,including the BajaCalifornia Peninsu- as is its identification as a Yellow-browed mangoand palm orchards),plus extensive la'sfirst Streak-backed Oriole (lcterus pustula- Warbler.Finally, this record is put into con- patcheso[ nativethornscrub (see Figure 1). tus)in January2006 (Ericksonet al. 2006a) text by reviewing Yellow-browedWarbler Treesof thelegume subfamily Mimosoideae-- anda flockof eightMississippi Kites (lctinia vagrancyin generaland reviewingrecords includingSweet Acacia (Acacia farnesiana), mississippiensis)in October 2005 that fur- of other Phylloscopuswarblers in North PaloEban (Chloroleucon mangense), and Gua- nished the Peninsula's second record (Erick- America. muchilar (Pithecellobium dulce)-•tominate son et al. 2006b).
358 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS FIRSTRECORO-'OF YELLOW-BROW-•D WARBLERFOR•-XIC•J
uluscalendula), though none of thelatter were forminga blackishbar behindthe greater- presentfor directcomparison. The bill was covertwingbar (much as is seenin a Ruby- smalland kinglet-like,with a palepinkish- crownedKinglet). The secondariesotherwise flesh basethat extendedhalfway out the weredark and narrowlyedged in yellowish n Id-lz mandible;the maxilla was dark. The tail was greenthat wasbrighter than the colorof the short.dark, and notched. The underparts were back.The blackish tertials were edged brightly mostlyan unstreaked dull white, but therewas in white,with the whitetips appearing as a someyellow wash along the sides of thebreast whitetriangle or chevronat the endof each nearthe bend of thewing and on theundertail tertial.The tertialtips appearedwhiter than coverts.The back was uniform greenish olive, thewingbars. The legs were dusky pinkish. the exactbrightness of whichwas difficult to Mlodinow did not hear the bird call, but the judge.The crownwas similarly colored and Radamakersdid hearit, and througha great withoutany crownstripe. There was a bold, dealof persistence,recorded it (Figure2). The long, and yellow-washedsupercilium that callwas a high-pitcheddisyllabic upward-in- went fromover the bill backwardsnearly to fiectedtse-sweep. The pitch and cadence were
OOsec 05see 10se• the nape.The thicknessof this supercilium muchlike theposition-call of a malePacific- wasfairly uniform, without any obvious poste- slopeFlycatcher (Empidonax difficilis). Figure2. TheYellow-browed Warbler atMiraflores wasrecorded riorflaring, and the two supercilia met over the byRadamaker, yielding this SOhogram. Asis typical ofYellow- eye. The eye looked dark. From the bill, Identification IdowedWarbler, thefrequency ecceeds 7 kHz; the call of a Hume's Leaf-Warblerhardly ever exceeds 6 kHz. Furthermore, thedura- throughthe eye, and to therear of theauricu- The birdssmall size, bright wingbars, white tionof O.30 seconds isalso typical ofYellow-bfowed butis, appar- larswas a narrowbut prominentdusky line tertial tips, and plain crown eliminateall ently,outside the range of Hume's. See Luijendijk (2001] for fur- that was darker than the crown. The actual au- speciesexcept Yellow-browed Warbler and therdetails. Sohogram byPierre Dev/•e and Kur• Radamaker. ricularswere moderately mottled in duskyor HumegLeaf-Warbler (Phylloscopus humei). olive.Below the eye was a narrowwhitish arc. Visualcriteria [or separatingYellow-browed Field encounters The wingsshowed two brightwhitish wing- and Humeg Leaf-Warblersare detailedby On 25 March,at approximately7:15 a.m. bars,with the upperwingbar not as thickor Baker(1997) andgenerally supported by the (about 40 minutes after sunrise),Mlodinow longas the lower but still readily apparent. The species'accounts in del Hoyo et al. (2006); waspishing near the arroyo that runs past Mi- greatercoverts between the wingbars were rel- thesefirmly point to itsidentification as a Yel- raftores. At this location, fallow fields and ativelydark (darkerthan the back). Similarly, 1ow-browedWarbler, rather than a Humeg pasturemeet relatively lush nativethorn- the basesof the secondarieswere quite dark, (seeFigures 3-5): scrub.The pishingrapidly attracted a large flockof passetinesdominated by Orange- crowned Warblers (Ve•ffvora celata) into a Guamuchilar.He hadbeen pishing for about five minutes when a small whitish-bellied birdjoined the commotion. It wasonly about ten metersawa% and after a periodof initial disbelief,Mlodinow recognized it asa Yellow- browed Warbler. The Yellow-browed Warbler then disappearedand reappearedseveral times,providing about four minutes of actual observationtime over a ten-minuteperiod at distances of ten to 15 meters. On 7 April, Kurt and Cindy Radamaker wentto Mirafloreshoping to relocatethis bird and eventuallyfound it around12:00 p.m. fewer than 100 meters from where Mlodinow hadoriginally discovered it. Theywatched i• intermittentlyover a two-hourperiod in the densefoliage. It was often relocatedby its habitof flickingits wings or hover-gleaningin a kinglet-likefashion. Description Thiswas a smallpasserinc with a kinglet-like Figure3.Yellow-browed Warbler preening ina GuamuchilaratMiraflores, Baja California Sur,25 March 2007. This pose shows the jizz. It wasnoticeably smaller than the nearby solidcrown and face pattern typical ofthis species. Note also the pale proximal half to the mandible and somewhat pale legs. This Orange-crownedWarblers and appeared to be photograph,andothers taken on 25 March, portray ayellowish cast to the underparts thatis an artifact oflighting. Inreal life, the a b•tlarger than a Ruby-crownedKinglet (Reg- birdappeared mostly whitish beneath. Photograph bySteven 6.Mlodinow.
VOLUME 61 (2007) ß NUMBER 2 359 IFIRSTRECORD OFYELLOW-BROWED WARBLERFORMEXICO
1) In Hume's,the upper wingbar is dull Mountains eastto easternSiberia and south to Island, Alaska (Lehman 2000a, 2000b). The and often absent in worn (spring) Mongolia,northern Manchuria, and possibly second North American record was also from plumage. northern Korea (Baker 1997). It winters from Gainbellon 30 August2002 (Lehman2005). 2) The mandible in Hume's shows little centralNepal east to southeasternChina and Mostinteresting are two additionalsightings or no pale,while the basalhalf is typi- Taiwanand south to theMalay Peninsula and from the fall of 2006:one photographedat callypinkish in Yellow-browed. Vietnam (Baker 1997). Note that much of the Attu Island,Alaska on 21 September(Tobish 3) Hume'shas blackish-brown legs ver- normalwintering ran•e is at the same latitude 2007) and a sightrecord from Milwaukee sus flesh-brown in Yellow-browed. as Miraflores(23.35 N). Interestingly,Yel- County,Wisconsin on 21 Octoberthat has 4) Blackish basal color to tertials and Iow-browed Warbler is one of the most nu- beenaccepted by theWisconsin Bird Records wingcoverts is typicalof Yellow-browed merousSiberian passefine vagrants to west- Committeeas a single-observersight record but not of Hume's. ern Europe,with 2648records between 1958 andthus hypothetical (Svingen 2007). 5) Secondaryedges are more brightlycolored than the back Other.Phyllosc. opus in Yellow-browed,most easily recorasaway Trom Alaska noted in moderately worn Only two otherspecies of Phyllo- plumage. scopuswarblers have been record- 6) The boldwhite edgesto the ed in North Americaaway from tertialsare typicalof Yellow- Alaska: Dusky Warbler (P. browed and would be unusual fuscatus)and Arctic Warbler (P bo- realis). The breeding range of plumage.inHumeõ, particularly inworn X Dusk)'Warbler fits fairlywell into the westernhalf of the rangeof Furthermore,analysis of the Yellow-browed Warbler, while its Mirafloresbird'scall identify itas a • winterrange is similarto that of Yellow-browed Warbler. Lu•- Yellow-browed (Baker 1997). jendijk (2001) comparedfall and DuskyWarblers have been record- winter call-notes of Yellow-browed ed ten times in California, all be- and Hume's Leaf-Warblers, tween 27 Septemberand 3 No- demonstratingthat the callof Yel- vember,and all but one recordwas Iow-browedis higherin pitchand coastal (Hamilton et al. 2007). longerin durationthan that of There are also two records from Hume's.Hume's rarely reachesa the northernhalf of the BaiaCali- frequencyhigher than 6 kHz, but fornia Peninsula, 15 October 1991 Yellow-browed almost always and 20-23 October 1995 (Erick- reachesa frequency of 7 kHz.Ad- son et al. 2001). Interestingly, ditionally, the typical call of Dusky Warbler, like Yellow- Hume'sis shortand disyllabic, '• browedWarbler, has occurred pre- with the firstsyllable stressed and dominantlyas a fall vagrantin an obvious downward inflection Beringia(Lehman 2005). ArcticWarbler is a fairly com- onMarshallthe secondJ. 11iff(pets.part, likenedcomm.) byto • mon breeder in western and cen- the hair call of Hutton's Vireo tral Alaska(Heindel 2006), yet it (Vireo huttoni). In contrast, the Figure4.Yellow-browed Warbler atMiraflores, 8aja California Sur, 25 March 2007. Here the bird has been recorded but seven times pitch,mflect•on, and durationof showsits wing fairly well. Note the bold wingban with a blackishbase to the greater wing-coverts away from that state.There are the Yellow-browed Warbler's call (forminga dark panel between the wingban) and to the secondaries (forming adark bar behind four records from coastal central thesecond wingbar). Also note the bright greenish-yellow edgesto the secondaries beyond th•s closelyresemble those of a male darkbar and bright white edge to the one visible tertial. Photogroph bySteven G.Mlodinow. Californiaspanning 7 September Pacific-slopeFlycatcher's call through1 October(Hamilton el (Heindel2006), as notedby the Radamakers and 1985 in Great Britain, almost all from fall al. 2007), plusrecords from BajaCalifornia in the field. The SOhogrammade from the (Dymondet al. 1989). Additionally,81 had Sur's Vizcaino Peninsula, 12 October 1991 Radamaker'srecording matches that of Yel- beenfound in Icelandthrough 2003 (Peturs- (Pyle and Howell 1993) and the Canadian Iow-browedWarbler not Hume's(Figure 2). sonand Kolbeinsson2007). The few spring Arctic at Prince Patrick Island, Northwest Ter- Differences between first-winter and basicø records from Britain and Ireland are from late ritories,21 July 1949 (Godfrey1986, Jan- plumagedadult Yellow-browedWarblers are March throughearly May (Vinicombeand tunen 2003). verysubtle and virtuallydisappear by spring Cottridge1996), and del Hoyoet al. (2006) (Baker1991). Consequently,we wereunable note that northboundmigration in Asia be- Othe.r P.hyllos.c.op.us to determinethe ageof thisbird. ginsduring late March and early April. species!'romp. lasKa The first North American record of Yellow- The occurrenceof Yellow-browedand Dusky Yellow-browedWarbler distribution browedWarbler came as recentlyas 23-24 Warblerssouth of Alaska,despite relatively Yellow-browed Warbler breeds from the Ural September1999 fromGainbell, St. Lawrence few recordsfrom that state,suggests that it
360 I•ORTH AMERICAN BIRDS FIRST-RECORD-oFYELLOW-BROWEDWARBLER FO•MEXIœ•
Mirafloresduring March 2007 than Club master database) On the other hand, duringJanuary 2007 (S. Mlodinow, there was not an unusual number of Siberian unpubl.data). passerinesin generalfound on mainland This local increasein passerine North Americaduring the fall and winterof numbers could be due to the arrival 2006 (E E. Lehman, T. Tobish, G. McCaskie, of northbound migrants, but it R. A. Erickson,pers. comm.). Consequently, could also be the result of local it seems that the Miraflores Yellow-browed movements.Insight can be gained Warblerwas part of an unusualyear for va- by examiningthe region'sclimate. grancyin thatspecies, but it wasnot partof a Precipitationand humidity in the phenomenonthat increasedpassefine va- CaboSan Lucas/La Paz region peak grancyfrom Siberia to mainlandNorth Amer- in Augustand Septemberand reach ica as a whole. theirnadir from March through May (InternationalStation Meteorologi- Acknowledgments cal ClimateSummary, version 4.0). We owea greatdebt of thanksto MarshallJ. Consistent with these data, south- Iliff, who reviewed severalearlier versionsof ernmostBaja Califorma(from La th•s manuscriptand greatly•mproved them. Pazsouthward) appeared distincdy Paul E. Lehman and Richard A. Erickson also moreverdant in January2007 than substantiallyimproved this manuscript.We during March (Mlodinow, pers. also owe a debt of thanks to Pierre Deviche obs.).This seasonal variation in pre- for helpingcreate the sonogramincluded cipitationwould likely lead to a de- hereinand to T.J.C. Luijendijkfor providing cline in the availability of moist us with informationon separatingYellow- habitatsas winter progressesinto browed Warbler from Hume's Leaf-Warbler spring.Consequently, it is quitecon- using this sonagram.Jon Rebmanwas kind ceivable that insectivorous and frn- enoughto help total strangerssort out the givorouspassetines would be more tree speciesof Miraflores.Finally, we are Figure5. Yellow-browed Warbler atMiraflores, Baja California Sur, 25 March widelydistributed during early win- gratefulfor the inspiration,data, and stimu- 2007.This photo best illustrates the pinkish basal half to the mandible and ter and midwinter, later concentrat- palelegs/feet. Photograph bySteven 6.•1odinow. laung conversationsprowded by Cindy ing in the remainingmoist areas as Radamaker, Will Russell, Robb Hamilton, would be worthwhile to look at the other thesurroundings become more arid. The con- Mark Stevenson,Lee G. R. Evans, Thede To- speciesof Phylloscopusthat haveoccurred in current bloom of the thornscrub trees 0n- bish,Guy McCaskie,and James Frank. Alaskabut havenot yet beendetected else- dudingPithecdlobium duke and Acacia farne- where on the continent. There have been two siana) at theseoases, with its attendant inver- Literature cited WoodWarblers (Phylloscopus sibilatrix): one tebrates,would providea particularlyattrac- Baker,K. 1997. Warblersof Europe,Asia, and on ShemyaIsland, 9 October1978 (Gibson tive foodsource. A similarphenomenon ap- North Africa. PrincetonUniversity Press, 1981) and one on St. Paul Island, 7 October pearsto takeplace in southeasternArizona's Princeton,New Jersey. 2004 (Tobish2005). Willow Warbler(Phyllo- deserts,where willows (Salix spp.) bloom in del Hoyo,J., A. Elliott, and D. Christie,eds. scopustrochilus) has been recordedonce March,suddenly attracting both vagrantand 2006. Handbookof theBirds oJ the World. (Gambell,25-30 August 2002; Lehman 2003), regularlyoccurring passerines (W Russell, Volume11: Old World Flycatchersto Old andPallas's Leaf-Warbler (Phylloscopus proreg- pers.comm.). While southernBaja California WorldWarblers. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, ulus) hasbeen recorded once (Gainbell, 25-26 Sur'saridity during spring might concentrate Spain. September2006; Lehman and Rosenberg locallywintering birds, it would alsomake Dymond,J. N., PA. Fraser,and S. J. M. 2007). theregion unattractive to migrants,especially Gandett. 1989. Rare Birds in Britain and Ire- asthey would have to crossopen water for a land.T. & A. D_ Poyser,Calton, United Discussion relativelysmall target.For any individual Kingdom. Had thisbird spent the winterlocally or was bird, such as this Yellow-browedWarbler, no Erickson, R. A., and S. N. G. Howell, eds. it a northboundmigrant? It wasnot seenin determinationcan be made,but giventhe de- 2001.Birds of theBaja California Peninsu- Mirafloresduring a Januaryvisit by Mlodi- tailsdescribed above, it seemsquite likely the la: Status, Distribution, and Taxonomy. now andothers, but it couldeasily have been bird hadwintered nearby and wasnot a mi- Monographsin FieldOrnithology 3. Ameri- missed. Furthermore, the Radamakersfound grant. canBirding Association, Colorado Springs, thebird 13days after Mlodinow, which seems Was the Miraflores Yellow-browed Warbler Colorado. likea longtime for a migrantto remainin one part of a largerphenomenon? The two Yel- Erickson,R. A., R. A. Hamilton, and S. N. G. place,especially during spring migration. Ad- low-browedsfound duringfall 2006 would Howell.2001. New information on migrant ditionally, through-migrantpasserines are suggestso, at leastfor that species.Further- birdsin northernand centralportions of thoughtto occuralmost exclusively during more, GreatBritain alsohad an unusual num- the Baja CaliforniaPeninsula, including fall in southernmostBaja California Sur (Er- ber of Yellow-browedWarblers during fall speciesnew to Mexico.In: Erickson,R. A., ickson and Howell 2001). On the other hand, 2006,with 526 reported,the fourthhighest and S. N. G. Howell, eds.2001. Birdsof the Mlodinowfound many more passerinesat total in the past20 years(L. Evans,UK400 Baja CaliforniaPeninsula. Monographs in
VOLUME 61 (2007) NUMBER 2 361 FIRSTRECORD OFYELLOW-BROWED WARBLERFORMEXICO
FieldOrnithology 3. AmericanBirding Asso- pleteBirds of North America. National Geo- bell, Alaska.North AmericanBirds 61: 4-8. ciation,Colorado Springs, Colorado. graphicSociety, Washington, D.C. Luijendijk,T. J. C. 2001. Calls compared: Erickson,R. A., R. A. Hamilton, R. Carmona, Jantunen,J. 2003. Arctic Warbler. Birders Hume's Leaf Warbler and Yellow-browed and G. Ruiz-Campos.2006a. The winter Journal12: 24-30. Warbler in autumn and winter in the season:Baja CaliforniaPeninsula region. Lehman, P. 2000a. First record of Yellow~ Netherlands.Dutch Birding 23: 275-284. North American Birds 60: 287-289. browedWarbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) in Petursson,G., and Y. Kolbeinsson.2007. Yel- Erickson,R. A., R. A. Hamilton, R. Carmona, North America. Western Birds 31: 57-60. low-browed Warblers in Iceland. In: Kol- and G. Ruiz-Campos.2006b. The fall mi- Lehman,P. 2000b. PictorialHighlights: Fall beinsson,Y. 2007. The IcelandicBirding gration:Baja California Peninsula region. 1999 birdinghighlights in the BeringSea Pages,online at:
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362 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS