Date: 5/19/26 4:49 pm From: Olivia DeMarchi via groups.io <oliviademarchi7...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Ash Hollow Banding Station Week 4 Summary
Hi Tobin,
According to the Pyle guide there are slight differences in bill size and
very subtle plumage differences between Eastern and Western Warbling
Vireos. I'm recording bill width, depth, and nares to tip measurements on
all of them, but my boss told me since the differences are so subtle and
there is quite a bit of overlap in the measurements to record all the WAVIs
as UNWV. Western Nebraska is such an interesting place to study WAVIs since
the split since theoretically we could get both at Ash Hollow and I have
questions about possible intergrades which just makes everything more
muddled and confusing. From the data I've gathered from the WAVIs captured
so far, they seem to line up more with the Eastern species, which makes
sense since we're more on the edge of the Western's range. I'm not an
expert at distinguishing their songs, but I do seem to hear more of the
Eastern species' song as well. Possibly in the future we will understand a
better way to distinguish them, but that's all I know for now! I am also
collecting feather samples from all the WAVIs to send off to the Bird
Genoscape Project in hopes they can learn more. Hope that answers your
question and thanks for reaching out!
Olivia
On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 11:32 AM Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Hi Olivia,
>
> Incredible week! I'm curious about the Warbling Vireos. I'm assuming since
> you have them as "unknown" there isn't enough measurement data or anything
> to separate them? I'm sure you're collecting lots of data on them, I'm just
> curious if you had any insights into how those might be differentiated in
> the future, besides DNA.
>
> Thanks!
>
> p.s. I heard you had a Scarlet Tanager today, that's a great bird out
> there!
>
> ----
> *Tobin Brown*
> Lincoln, NE
> eBird Hotspot Editor, Nebraska
> Editor Seasonal Reports, Nebraska Bird Review
>
>
>
