Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia), Double Springs near Mormon Lake, Coconino County

This Mourning Warbler was found and photographed by Jason Wilder on 31 August 2017

Casual visitor with 8 prior accepted records and if accepted this would be a first for Coconino County.

This young bird is similar to the closely related MacGillivray's Warbler and to a Nashville Warbler. The first things to note are the stout, pink toned bill and legs which help place this as a Geothlypis warbler and rule out the similarly plumaged Nashville Warbler. Also unlike Nashville, the bird shows an extensive gray hood that extends down into a breastband. This breastband separates the yellow of the throat from the yellow of the lower chest, otherwise the bird is a uniform yellow below.  The white eye ring is broken and not of uniform thickness.  The extensive yellow throat and the eye ring shape help to eliminate MacGillivray's Warbler. 

31 August 2017, photo by Jason Wilder

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