greetings, the above link takes you to the ID frontiers listserve and there is an ongoing dialog about this mystery warbler’s identification.

My own thought proccess in looking at the pictures followed similarly to the disscussion on ID Fronteirs –making me feel not so crazy.

The overall body plan and coloration leads right to Mourning Warbler as at least one of this bird’s parents. These features are: bright yellow underparts–most importantly bright yellow undertail coverts, olive-green back, greyish hood, and some black where the grey meets the yellow on the breast.
no sweat, right; well now look at the eye ring, lores(space between eye and bill), and throat.

The dark lores and partial eye ring along with a large looking bill are strikingly similar to Yellow Breasted Chat –HOW cool would that be! BUT, sadly, the size of the bird and the rarity of Chats in the area where the bird was caught makes that possibility a little far off. Then you’re like, woah, it looks alot like a Blue-headed Vireo, but although anything is possible, vireos and warblers are distantly related so a successful hybridization is unlikely. A consensus on ID Frontiers seems to be leaning towards a Canada Warbler X Mourning Warbler. I can see why in many respects because Canada Warblers have dark lores that extend downward and a bright yellow throat that could genetically translate into bright white on our mystery bird. The major thing that has ME left puzzled is the incomplete eyering; Canada Warblers have, in my experience, a complete eye ring and Mourning Warblers don’t have any visible eye ring.

hmmmmm….

Ry