Hutton's Vireo close encounter

[Lisa Millbank]

While on breaks from work yesterday, I wandered around at the Corvallis
BMX track. I'd been enjoying some Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but at the
edge of the grove of cottonwoods near SE Third St and the bike bridge,
there was one Hutton's Vireo flitting around, catching insects in the
sunshine. They're usually pretty tame little birds...this one seemed to
have a vague curiosity, but was mostly indifferent toward me. It gave a
few nasal, whiny chatters.

The vireo darted after some flying insects, and its bill made a snapping
sound, barely audible over the traffic noise. It was very cute, and it
would sit still long enough for me to admire it (certainly less frenetic
than the Ruby-crowned Kinglets!). I enjoyed getting a close look at its
slightly hook-tipped bill, and the prominent collection of hair-like
"rictal bristles" at the base of the bill, as you can see in the
attached pictures.

Lisa Millbank
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com

[Hendrik Herlyn]

Hi Lisa and all, Hutton's Vireos seem to be on somewhat the move right now. To my surprise, I had one singing across from our apartment building this morning - not a species I commonly encounter in our neighborhood. Yesterday, Oscar and I heard one singing from the oaks at the Witham Hill Natural Area (a more expected place for this little bird). Happy pre-spring birding Hendrik __________________________ Hendrik G. Herlyn Corvallis, OR "Nature is not a place to visit. It is home."      -- Gary Snyder --- On Sat, 3/9/13, Lisa Millbank <lisa...@peak.org> wrote:

The vireo darted after some flying insects, and its bill made a snapping sound, barely audible over the traffic noise.  It was very cute, and it would sit still long enough for me to admire it (certainly less frenetic than the Ruby-crowned Kinglets!).  I enjoyed getting a close look at its slightly hook-tipped bill, and the prominent collection of hair-like "rictal bristles" at the base of the bill (as you can see in the pictures at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/mid-valley-nature/bR7C_cm6LN0/_0vaQwqD7wYJ). Lisa Millbank www.neighborhood-naturalist.com _______________________________________________ birding mailing list bir...@midvalleybirding.org http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/birding