Under Clear Skies

Brewster's Warbler - Ryan Kayhart

Thanks to Ryan for sending me this snap of a 2nd year female Brewster’s Warbler that was banded at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory on Thursday.

Brewster’s is the more common, dominant hybrid between Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warbler with the recessive hybrid being the Lawrence’s. This bird strikes me as somewhat interesting as it seems to retain the single golden wing patch, rather than the double wing bar that one usually associates with illustrations of  Brewster’s hybrids: Sibley, Beadle etc. It also has a very feint wash of yellow on the breast (often illustrated as being more extensive in female Brewster’s). A quick Google image search for Brewster’s Warbler shows you just how variable these hybrids can be though (here). Giff Beaton has a nice online collection of eastern wood warbler shots if you want to look at what the individual species look like (here).

Worth noting now also that only the ‘winged’ warblers and the presumed extinct Bachman’s Warbler remain in the Vermivora genus. The rest (Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Virginia’s, Colima, Lucy’s and Flame-throated) have been moved out into a new genus Oreothlypis (pronunciations on a postcard please!!!) along with the Crescent-chested Warbler, which until recently was considered a parula.