Possible Blue-headed Vireo, Estes Park (Larimer Co.) (pics attached)

[John Oliver]

Birders,

This afternoon, between 4 and 5 PM while I was exploring the Matthews-Reeser Bird Sanctuary by Lake Estes in Estes Park, I encountered among the decent migrant flocks a Cassin's/Blue-headed-type vireo of whose identity I'm not quite sure. Cassin's is of course more likely on probability, and on top of that I have very limited experience with Blue-headed, but nevertheless, this bird was noticeably quite brightly colored and seemed to have a very contrasting facial pattern. I'd appreciate the opinions of others on this particular bird. Luckily, I managed to photograph the bird before it disappeared, and I've attached a few pictures to this message for the review of others. Here's a link to the eBird report as well, with an additional photo: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39058674. I have a few additional photos (not as good as the ones linked to here) if anyone else wishes to see them.

Thanks, and good birding,

John Oliver

Estes Park, CO/La Crescenta, CA

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[Carl Bendorf]

John, I also have limited experience on these guys but compare your photos to a bird I photographed two days ago near Lyons that I felt was a Cassin's (instead of Blue-headed) based on the lack of contrast between the head color and back color and the less than crisp contrast between the cheek color and the white throat (a mark that Sibley emphasizes in his second edition.)

Carl Bendorf

Longmont

Colorado Birding Adventures