Monroe -

The yellow bird appears to be a rather dull Baltimore Oriole.  Immatures
often looks this plain this time of year.  Note the white wing bars and
tertial edges, pale lores, orangish tones to head and undertail coverts.
Bill too big and heavy for a warbler.

Also the "Black-throated Blue" is a male American Redstart.

Hang in there! 

Mark L Hoffman
Sykesville, MD

-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Monroe Harden
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 8:50 PM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Yellow warbler maybe- request for ID help

Hi everyone,

Monroe here with another bird identification question.  I saw the yellow
bird in these grainy photos:

http://monroe.20m.com/yellowbird.htm

on the trail heading toward the Turkey Point hawk watch site in Cecil County
over Labor Day weekend.

I think it's a Yellow Warbler, but the whiteness of the wing bars is
throwing me off.  My reference guides show this warbler as having yellow
bars, not white as in the photos.  But the underside is completely yellow,
all the way to the end of the tail.  There is a hint of an eyering in the
photos, but it is not clear.

I considered the possibility of it being a female goldfinch, but the
goldfinch has white on the rump and bottom of the tail. I also considered
that it could be a yellow throated vireo, but again, there is no white on
the underside.

Can anyone help me figure out what this bird is?  I included the blurry
photos along with the slightly better ones to show the different angles of
the bird.

Monroe Harden
Havre de Grace, MD


PS we had an odd looking bird in our backyard last night just before sunset.
It was sitting on the ground and as viewed from above, it had large areas of
black and brown.  It appeared to have almost no neck/throat, and it was
about the size of a Mounring Dove.  It flew off as I tried for a better
angle, and I did not see any white (or other colored) wing bars as it flew
away over the fence.  I've never seen a Nighthawk on the ground or a Chuck
Wills Widow, so I can't say if it was one of those.