Tennessee Warbler (Vermivora peregrina), Tubac bridge over the Santa Cruz River, Santa Cruz County

This Tennessee Warbler was found and photographed by Dave Stejskal at the Tubac bridge over the Santa Cruz River on 6 Nov. 2009.

The last couple of years have been better than the recent norm for this species in the state, with multiple birds being documented in both 2008 & 2009. Arizona saw a significant drop-off in reports of this vagrant in the 1990's and early 2000's compared to the relatively numerous reports in the state from the 1970's and 1980's.

These photos show well all of the field marks of this species, which is most often confused with Orange-crowned Warbler. Note that the underparts lack the blurry dusky streaking that are seen on Orange-crowned. The undertail coverts are almost entirely white in Tennessee, unlike the bright yellow undertail coverts of most of the western Orange-crowneds that we see in the state. The tail on Tennessee is relatively shorter than the tail of Orange-crowned and the undertail coverts are longer relative to the tail tip in Tennessee. The back color of Tennessee is unique and is a much brighter and purer green than is seen on any Orange-crowned.

06 November 2009, photo by David Stejskal