Monday, March 19, 2012

Which Came First, The Kinglet or The Vireo?

But for its slightly larger size and duller whites, the Hutton's Vireo seems to resemble the Ruby Crowned Kinglet in every way. The Kinglet ranges over much of North America, including the western oak forests favored by the Hutton's Vireo, and it can be very easy to confuse the two. As is often the case with similar looking birds, the key distinguishing feature is the call.

The Kinglet has a series of short, wren-like chats. The Vireo has a higher pitched zu-weep.
I was lucky to have the two species inhabiting the same oak tree down at Madera canyon, where they were both calling and making for an easy comparison.

Meet Jabba, the Hutton's Vireo.  

8 comments:

  1. I can definitely see the resemblance. Nice shot!

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  2. I have trouble ID'ing the Vireo's!

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    1. Me too! I shudder to think how many species I've missed just from lack of knowledge.

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  3. Wonderful photo. My only ease at vireo's out east is there aren't that many.

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  4. I still have a problem identifying this one. I have to sit and compare pics between the birds.

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    1. Yeah I'm not sure if I'd be ok with comparative pics either. I was very fortunate to have this Vireo calling from the same tree where a Kinglet was calling. That made for about as easy of a comparison as one can get between the two species.

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