[birding] Indigo Bunting (or hybrid?) at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area, Benton County

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

During a lunchtime walk around E.E. Wilson today, I came across a
molting male PASSERINA BUNTING sp. which I think was either an INDIGO
BUNTING or perhaps a hybrid Indigo x Lazuli (not sure I can rule that
out so will need to do some research).

I initially heard the bird giving soft chip notes from a brushy thicket
to the NW of the Canal Pond (just inside the area that's closed to the
public, but is viewable if you walk east along the fenceline north of
the canal to where the fenceline crosses a ditch with cattails, from
there look to the north). The chip notes sounded similar to but seemed a
little funny for Lazuli Bunting (all of which seemed to have disappeared
from this neighborhood by the last week of August), so I was a little
suspicious.

After finally locating the bird, I had a good look in my scope from a
distance of about 30 yards for 2-3 minutes, until a small tribe of
yellowjackets decided to start chomping on my feet (which were scratched
from coming through the blackberries). 

The bird was a real patchwork quilt of brown and blue. It had blue in
the shoulder area of the folded wing, but brown in the area between
where the wingbars should have been, then blueish in the primaries &
secondaries, brownish on the back I looked for but could not spot any
pale wingbars, not even really a hint. The head was disheveled but
mainly brownish. Back and breast were also brownish. I thought I saw
some yellow in the gape of the bill, which I think would indicate a
hatch-year bird just coming into adult plumage. I had an idea that it
was important to look at the curvature of the culmen on weird buntings
so I did that -- looked typical for Lazuli (or Indigo for that matter).

The bird stayed at about mid-height (6-8 ft high) in the thicket the
whole time. Other interesting birds in the area included an adult
LINCOLN'S SPARROW and a hatch-year WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, both the
first I've seen of those species since last spring.

I found this bird while on my way to check the Canal Pond for shorebirds
(there were just a few today: WESTERN, LEAST & SPOTTED SANDPIPERS plus a
GREATER YELLOWLEGS and KILLDEER). Otherwise it was a great day to be
out, with lots of songbird activity. Full list will go on birdnotes.net
but I wanted to get this out first.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis