Records Committee Utah Ornithological Society Web Site

Common name:	Prothonotary Warbler
Scientific name:	Protonotaria citrea
Date:	17 Sept 2000
Time:	10:30 am
Length of time observed:	Initially one min, later total, 2 min
Number:	one
Age:	adult
Sex:	male
Location:	Provo River Walkway, about 1.5 mile miles east of Utah lake State Park
County:	Utah
Latilong:	N 40 degrees 14 minutes 23.990 seconds W 111 degrees 42 minutes 40.310 seconds
Elevation:	4500 ft
Distance to bird:	12 ft
Optical equipment:
Weather:	Clear sunny, no wind, 80 F
Light Conditions:	Good
Detailed description of bird:	Large and plump for a warbler. yellow head and breast. Dark eye, fairly long bill. Back greenish brown, wings and tail darker, bluish gray in color. No wing bars. Lower belly from legs back and undertail coverts white. neck showed more green than breeding plumage male, suggesting fall male plumage.
Song or call & method of delivery:	None
Behavior:	Foraging low in thick vegetation, active, moving rapidly among leaves and branches.
Habitat:	Thick brush along a small stream/ditch by the Provo River.
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Yellow Warbler: has smaller bill, yellow undertail coverts. Blue-winged Warbler: has a dark line through eye.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	First time for Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Warbler numerous times, Blue-winged once.
References consulted:	National Geographic: Field Guide to the Birds of North America, third edition; Dunn/Garrett: Warblers (Peterson Field Guide Series):
Description from:	From memory
Observer:	Tuula Rose
Observer's address:	1065 E 560 N Provo, Utah 84606
Observer's e-mail address:	tuularose@juno.com
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	Milton Moody, Dennis Shirley, Kathy &Joel Beyer, Julie Van Moorhem, Terry Sadler, Larene Weiss. These observers found the bird on different days Sunday through Thursday morning 9/17-21, 2000. They all had groups of other birders with them including Dan Green, Bonnie Williams, Leena Rogers, Lois Clark, Pia DeVries, Mike Monson, Robin & Julie Tuck, Tom Williamson and Eric Huish. Thursday evening brought an early winter storm that lasted until Saturday. The warbler was not seen after the storm.
Date prepared:	10 Oct 2000
Additional material:	Photo, Original Document