Bird #279 — Lucy’s Warbler

vermivora (from vermis, worm, and vorare, to devour) luciae (Dr. James Cooper, prominent 19th-century ornithologist, discovered this warbler in 1861 and named it for Lucy Hunter Baird, then 13-year-old daughter of Spencer F. Baird, later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution)

Sunday, April 1, 1984 — 12:30 pm

Patagonia, Arizona — Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Sanctuary

I had a bit of help with this one, and I’ll never know if I needed it.  We were wandering along the trail through the woods along the creek when we happened upon a ranger.  He told us to watch for the Lucy’s Warblers up ahead, but cautioned us that the chestnut on the crown and rump were not nearly as conspicuous as the field guides lead one to believe and that they could easily be mistaken for kinglets.

Everything was as he said it would be.  The Lucy’s Warblers were flitting and foraging through the trees along the creek, occasionally singing their “weeta weeta weeta chee chee chee” song.  I did see a few brief flashes of chestnut on a crown or rump, but I had to look hard for it.

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