Birding On a Shoestring: Devils River State Natural Area and Dolan Falls Preserve

                                                                    Eastern Pewee

                                                                Yellow-breasted Chat

04-25-19

Devils River State Natural Area, Val Verde County is comprised of three ecosystems--Edwards Plateau, Chihuahuan Desert, and the Tamaulipan mezquital.   Home to the Mexican free-tailed bat, pecan, sycamore, and live oak, the remote region is surrounded by private ranches.

                                                            Yellow-throated Warbler

                                                             Yellow-throated Warbler

                                                              Yellow-throated Vireo


Dolan Falls Preserve is bisected by the Edwards plateau, Rio Grande Plain brushland, and Chihuahuan Desert, a world unto itself.  These beauties were found there with a lot more.  Property of the Nature Conservancy, it is closed to the public.

                                                        Tropical x Northern Parula hybrid

                                                                  (notice partial eye arcs)

aviannovice@aol.com 

From:aviannovice@aol.com

To:ecarpe@gmail.com

Mon, Nov 20 at 12:39 PM

I remember that bird SPECIFICALLY, as I was the one to pish it out of the leaves where it was concealing itself.  I did both Northern and Tropical calls, and it answered the Tropical call, which pulled it out of its hiding place.

Writer sees the partial eye arcs, as well, and I also concur with your assessment, as there is evidence in all the shots that I took of those eye arcs.  With it being in a very shady area, there is also no possible way that the sun could have given us light to call this anything othr than what it appears to be.

Nice catch!! 

On Monday, November 20, 2023 at 12:20:17 PM CST, Eric Carpenter via eBird <ebird-review@ebird.org> wrote:

Dear Terry Hibbitts,

Thank you for being a part of eBird. To help make sure that eBird can be used for scientific research and conservation, volunteers like me follow up on unusual observations as a part of the eBird data quality process.

I am writing about the following observation:

Species: Tropical Parula
Count: X
Observation Date: Apr 25, 2019
Location: Dolan Falls Preserve, Val Verde, Texas, US
https://ebird.org/checklist/S55605141

The documentation you have provided shows a **
**Terry - We are sorting through parula photos from Texas to see if some would better be classified as hybrids. Your photo shows a bird with traits of both species and seems to be better classified as "Northern x Tropical Parula (hybrid)". Please review/consider when you have a chance. --Eric**
**

To make this correction please open your checklist, click Edit Species, find Tropical Parula, and click Change Species on the right side of the list. Then choose the Change Species option that fits the scenario (move entire observation or just photos), save, and you're all set.

Thank you again for your contributions to eBird—your observations help to make eBird useful to millions of people each year, providing real-time bird information and powering eBird science around the world.

Learn more about eBird data quality here
and eBird science here.

Eric Carpenter
ecarpe@gmail.com

                                                          Tropical x Northern Parula hybrid

                                                          Tropical x Northern Parula hybrid

Black Phoebe at the Dolan Falls area