ID small bird (black top, white belly, white wing marks)

[Karen00]

Hello folks,

I'm stumped with this little bird that has come to my yard. I live in Toronto and at this location for 20 years and have never seen this bird. I have seen him twice in the past week. The main identifying marks:
1. Small (a bit smaller than a Junco).
2. Dark black top from head to tail.
3. White belly (neck to base of tail).
4. White marking near the tip of each wing (I'm assuming when in flight this might appear as a stripe).
5. Black, thin bill (('m 99% positive it's black).

I tried using the regular bird identify sites (WhatBird, All About Birds, etc.) but nothing comes up. I even left the location blank in case this guy is a stray from somewhere afar.

I have attached some pics. Apologies for the quality. He was moving around in the bushes and in an awkward spot of my yard for me to photograph from inside my house.

[attachment=2:34o0xi70]IMG_6127_cr2.jpg[/attachment:34o0xi70]
[attachment=1:34o0xi70]IMG_6140_cr2.jpg[/attachment:34o0xi70]
[attachment=0:34o0xi70]IMG_6151_cr2.jpg[/attachment:34o0xi70]

Thanks.


Karen

[Ally]

Black-throated blue warbler

[Steve Hood]

This is a male Black-throated Blue Warbler. Nice find

[Karen00]

Thanks so much for the speedy reply Ally and Steve! I'm going to look this little guy up because this is definitely a first for me. As mentioned I saw him briefly about a week ago but he was in my yard and gone again in the blink of an eye. I tried looking him up based on the markings but nothing came up so I assumed I was wrong in what I saw and figured it must have just been a sparrow. I knew for sure when I saw him today that he wasn't a sparrow and I nearly tripped over my dog trying to get to my camera which I keep by the window. LOL! It's weird that I still couldn't find any info based on the markings (and nothing in google images either).

Thank goodness for forums like this!!!

Thanks again and cheers!


Karen

[Karen00]

Hello all,

Just a quick update... I looked up this guy on WhatBird and I think I saw a female last week because of the white eye marking (which I don't see on the male). That was one of the markings I was trying to search last week but not today. I had forgotten that marking. Hopefully they come back. I would like to get some better pics. Especially their blue colour (which could be why nothing came up in my searches given I was searching black. LOL!

Thanks again!


Karen

[Shortsighted]

Just saw a male at Duffins Creek. It too appeared suddenly and then disappeared in seconds.
Saw a male Baltimore Oriole at exactly the same moment. It split the scene just as quickly.

[Ally]

Just saw a male at Duffins Creek. It too appeared suddenly and then disappeared in seconds.
Saw a male Baltimore Oriole at exactly the same moment. It split the scene just as quickly.

I got one too in my trail! will post later

[lovemypt]

Hello all,

Just a quick update... I looked up this guy on WhatBird and I think I saw a female last week because of the white eye marking (which I don't see on the male). That was one of the markings I was trying to search last week but not today. I had forgotten that marking. Hopefully they come back. I would like to get some better pics. Especially their blue colour (which could be why nothing came up in my searches given I was searching black. LOL!

Thanks again!


Karen

females are almost all olive drab/ yellow in colour, no blue colouring and usually follow males who arrive much earlier in spring.  The other bird was most likely sometime else

[Karen00]

Thanks for this lovemypt. The bird I saw about a week ago was in the shade and at a bad angle to get a good look at it so it's entirely possible it was a different bird. The first thing I saw was the white eye marking and because it was in the shade it looked black but it might have been a different colour (maybe the olive green of the female). If it was a different bird then I'm extra lucky this year with all of the new birds to my yard!! Hopefully it will come back and to an area of my yard where I can get some good pictures to get a proper identification.

It's also exciting that others have seen this warbler as well. I have added it to my watch list which is a list of birds that come to my yard each year. For the longest time it was a list that contained sparrows, cardinals and blue jays. Over the past few years though I have seen some more exotic birds like goldfinches northern flickers, a few grackles, woodpeckers, nuthatches, thrushes and now warblers. :-D

Thanks all!

[Shortsighted]

Both male and female Black-throated Blue warblers are not shy so you may be able to approach
them for a photo if you are discrete and move very slowly. I've attached a few shots of the female
of this species with the notable eyebrow arch. These warbler came to visit me while I remained
almost motionless. One of them came down to perch beside me while I was eating a sandwich.

[Ally]

Both male and female Black-throated Blue warblers are not shy so you may be able to approach
them for a photo if you are discrete and move very slowly. I've attached a few shots of the female
of this species with the notable eyebrow arch. These warbler came to visit me while I remained
almost motionless. One of them came down to perch beside me while I was eating a sandwich.

Wow, some Sandwich!!

[Karen00]

Wow, great photos Shortsighted!!!! Thanks for sharing these and thanks for letting me know they're an approachable bird (within reason of course). I would like to be able to get some pics of them outside rather than through my patio door. I haven't seen them again since my first post so fingers crossed. I would like more exotic birds like this to take up residence in my yard and there's always a better chance of that if there's a male and female hanging around. :-)

[Shortsighted]

Warblers are generally not a typical backyard bird even during the migration period.
About the only time I've seen a warbler or two in the backyard was at the absolute
peak of migration, that half day or so when there are birds everywhere, and even
then it is only because of a dense row of cedar trees that provide concealment.
Getting warbler shots is still a matter of visiting a hot spot, the narrow end of the
funnel, where the birds are more concentrated. If you're not there at the right time
you may be out of luck. The peak day for warblers is usually from May 10th to the 16th.
I think it was on the 14th two years in a row at one time. I don't now what is happening
this year. Thickson woods should have been warbler city but it wasn't. Even when I
thought I spotted a warbler (no binoculars) it turned out to be just another RC Kinglet.
Couldn't find a waterthrush, only a couple of Gnatcatchers and hardly any flycatchers,
I don't know whether the peak has passed, or if it will still occur over the next few days.
You would need to hear from someone that is has been doing it for many years.

[Karen00]

Very interesting. I follow a number of the migrations on the Journey North website. Sounds like a lot of the migrating birds are late this year because of the bad weather along the migratory paths. I know my first sighting of Robins this year seemed to be a couple weeks later than previous years. Maybe the peak hasn't even happened yet for some of them or maybe it's scattered this year if they've been coming in smaller clusters. It'll be interesting to see if there are updates on this across multiple species.