What bird is this (Virginia) (1 Viewer)

[howiewu]

Taken today at Shenandoah NP, my guess is a female scarlet tanager?

TIA,
Howard

 

[BuckeyeAZ]

Near-blackish wings suggests scarlet tanager.
Biggish(?) bill suggests summer tanager. Maybe.
Pass. I can't do these things.

 

[phil baber]

Difficult. Hope you get some good help soon. Great photo!

 

[howiewu]

Now I am more convinced that it is a female ST .. I got another shot that shows more of the wing (I was still downloading my images) ...

 

[JANJ]

In the second pic looks more like a Scarlet, due to proportions + billsize and grey undertail (greenish in Summer).

JanJ

 

[Bird Nut]

Second photo looks like Scarlet Tanager (by the way, ST could be either scarlet or summer ) Can't explain why the bird looks like it has a black head in the first photo.

 

[KenM]

The bill on this bird looks too long (to my eye) for Scarlet Tanager, I'm leaning towards Summer Tanager.

cheers

 

[howiewu]

Hi, yeah, I meant Scarlet Tanager

I was tracking this bird for about 20-30 minutes, it was building a nest on a branch. It was dark in the trees because of the foliage. Overall its hue is of greenish yellow. In some photos the bill looks rather large, but in others they look more "normal". The following picture probably shows the field marks the best, and I think this shows more clearly that it is a scarlet:

Second photo looks like Scarlet Tanager (by the way, ST could be either scarlet or summer ) Can't explain why the bird looks like it has a black head in the first photo.

 

[Jim M.]

Scarlet Tanager.

Best,
Jim

 

[BuckeyeAZ]

Scarlet Tanager.

Given the debate/doubt, a little guidance would be valued, I'm sure.

 

[csanchez7]

Agree with Scarlet Tanager, based on the yellowish-green hue of the plumage (although photography can skew that somewhat) and the size of the bill. The bill is just not robust enough for Summer Tanager. SUTAs also have that faint dark loral line which should be visible in these shots (but is lacking). That last photo is really good.

Here is a photo of a female Summer Tanager for comparison:

http://images.wikia.com/birds/images/6/64/Summer_Tanager_Female.jpg

Another example for female Scarlet Tanager:

http://i.pbase.com/o6/93/599593/1/80363570.HMNETbqQ.scarlet_tanager_F5R6463.jpg

Carlos

 

[Peter C.]

Hi, yeah, I meant Scarlet Tanager

I was tracking this bird for about 20-30 minutes, it was building a nest on a branch. It was dark in the trees because of the foliage. Overall its hue is of greenish yellow. In some photos the bill looks rather large, but in others they look more "normal". The following picture probably shows the field marks the best, and I think this shows more clearly that it is a scarlet:

Still think this one's a bit tricky - unfortunately, I don't know the details of plumage sequence of the two species in question, but I think for a spring female,there just isn't enough black in the wings for SCTA. I also agree that bill looks awfully long, proportionally, for a SCTA.

Fortunately, since you have the general nesting area located - perhaps you could go back and find the mate?

 

[Jim M.]

The bird is a Scarlet Tanager. Summer Tanager would never show that degree of contrast between wings and body, and females usually have an orange-brownish tint; this bird is yellow-green. I bird in an area where both tanagers are common. Bill length is within range of variation for Scarlet.

Best,
Jim

 

[BuckeyeAZ]

CS & JT: Useful. Ta. I find the bill-size difference greatly oversold by field guides.

 

[peterginsburg]

I agree that the bill looks unusually large for Scarlet but the underside of the tail is a telling feature and the gray color would indicate Scarlet.

Peter

 

[JANJ]

In the last pic the undertail colour (among other features mentioned) say´s Scarlet.
The size of the bill is fine for Scarlet

Compare undertail with female Summer here:

http://traction.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341fae8053ef01347ffa306b970c-pi

JanJ

 

[BuckeyeAZ]

All v instructive. The near black/white contrast of wing v. underparts in scarlet tanager seems readily to nail it - at least with the photographs provided and linked to here. These photographs also demonstrate pretty well that the bill size criterion is (or can be) useless: I can't consistently tell which species in all these has the bigger bill; maybe it's only the biggest-billed of summer tanagers that can be identified that way.