Hooks and Flags

The temps are dropping and the leaves are falling – we be in November and “winter is coming” for all you GOT fans out there. It also means we are making our plans for our winter migration. There is a new wrinkle to deal with as there is a Screwworm outbreak in the western part of the Rio Grande Valley – most concerning is the infections in the Falcon State Park and Salineño areas, which are some of the areas I like to bird when we are down there. Not going to take our furry boys into that area with their quarantining process that has just been implemented there. Will it stay contained there, move east, where are the quarantine checks occurring (in that area or at the BP points that sit many miles from there) etc – all things we need to figure out before making our usual trek down there. In the meantime, I am trying to get caught up on all the busy work that needs to get done and (fingers crossed) push through some of the image backlog. With the Arizona 2025 trip now done, my backlog has shrunk to ONLY 1.5 years – trust me, that is quite the accomplishment for me ha. Also happy to report I am fully recovered from the October race and now in maintain mode with my running which is in the 8 to 10 miles ~3 times a week (a mere pittance). I will be back at my annual target of 1,000+ miles by the time you are reading this and my logged weekly outside activity streak currently sits at 54 consecutive weeks – take that you petulant ankle.

Enough preamble, the sign above the desk reminds me why you are here “It’s All About the Wildlife” so let’s continue our “lifer” series for at least one more post. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to our latest(ish) addition to our checklist.

Admittedly, not the most colorful bird in North America, but it definitely has a high level of cuteness. Hit the jump to learn more about our featured feathered friend.

With the ongoing theme it has become tradition to give you time to make your own guesses as to the species. Go ahead, take some time, imagine you are in the field assessing the various visible characteristics from the first image – no hurry, take your time, write it down and then give me a signal you are ready to go on {cue the Jeopardy music}

Answers in, pens down.

Let’s start with another look that might give you a better angle at a key feature you might have missed.

Wait, maybe not fair as every birder who goes into the field knows to additional tidbits I forgot to provide. One, they know where their feet are and two, they know what season to dress for. On the first front, these were taken in Madera Canyon, AZ. You should be pretty familiar with this location as it has been featured in the last month or two of posts. I absolutely love Madera and the surrounding canyons and if they didn’t tax your pension, definitely in the top two places we would consider moving to. Rounding out the background info, this series was taken in early spring, specifically March 31st of 2025. Trust me, you have been getting the freshest stuff in the processed queue.

Okay, would you like to reconsider your initial guess? Two more minutes were added to the clock in light of these additional clues {cue Jeopardy music…again}

Erasers down, time to reveal your answer! Any chance you went with Ruby-Crowned Kinglet? If so, that is a solid choice and I commend you for noticing the chunky build – also referred to as ‘gym rat’ being little of neck ha, the prominent/thick white eyering, the thickish double wing bars, olive wash and some yellowish highlights. Although I didn’t provide a good reference, you probably got the impression it was small in stature. Frequent readers probably already know my distaste for referential characteristics in the field anyway.

Unfortunately, that turns out to be an incorrect guess – “Now let’s see how much you wagered“. I included a shot below of a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet taken at the same time. It is extremely easy to tell what a good initial guess that was. Telling these two apart, in the same area, at the same time could definitely lead to confusion. Our feathered star of the post is actually a Hutton’s Vireo. The fact they look so similar lends to more of a surprise they are not even in the same family. The two Kinglets (Ruby-Crowned and Golden-Crowned) are the sole members of the Regulidae family where the Hutton’s is a member of the 14 strong Vireonidae family all having the Vireo moniker. You might remember this family from the previous post on the Western Warbling Vireo. Note, I just need one more member, the Black-Capped to complete my Vireo card set.

The Hutton’s Vireo and Ruby-Crowned Kinglet regions only overlap in a few areas. The Ruby-Crowned is pretty ubiquitous, wintering in the southern half and along with western US states then down into Central America. Come frisky season they push northward into Canada/Alaska. The Cornell Range Map for this bird is pretty awful simply showing a gap in the middle of the US between the breeding and wintering regions which gives you the impression they all use the western flyways to go north – quite the trek for those who winter in Florida having to fly to California to get to Canada and then flying all the way back east for the eastern Canada breeders – no migration regions are depicted which I can say with authority being in IL – is absolute rubbish. They pass through here quite regularly. Curious, I switched over to the Sightings map and that tells the true story.

The Hutton’s, however, is far more restrictive – note, this also aligns with their sightings map (Both maps comes directly from Cornell’s website and rights remain with them).

As you can tell, there are a few overlapping areas and southeastern Arizona is one of those. Fear not, there are a couple of methods to tell them apart in the field. The best is if the Kinglet will reveal its crown – keep in mind something needs to piss it off and it just might be you. The Hutton’s has a thicker bill – yeah I know, little help in the field there, but you can visualize that with the two pictures side by side above. Fortunately, there are two really good indicators, one easily seen, the other just a tad bit harder. Go back to the Ruby-Crowned pictured above. Look just below the second (longer) white wing bar and note the heavy black bar under it. The Hutton’s do not have that black break before transitioning into the outer featherings. Some of you probably already noted the Vireo family for the Huton’s and went looking for their signature characteristic, the tiny hook at the end of their bill. A handy tool to assist in their insect/fruit foraging. Kinglet’s prefer more of a challenge and go sans hook. They also think it looks sexier and often make fun of local Vieros for having Peyronie’s Disease – and you thought bullying was just a juvenile human thing. This is the reason I gave you the second image before having you make your species guess – that slight tilt of the head gave a good look at that hook (stop snickering Kinglets!!)

Surely by now you have noticed Intrigued’s passion for acronyms and sayings as “aids” in the field. Someday we’ll do a summary post for all the ones we have come up with over the years – will just need to pull those out of our staff training materials. For the Hutton’s Vireo, I think we are going to add “Look for the Hook, but no Jolly Roger” – think Peter Pan or in long form, look at the bill for the signature Vireo hook and then make sure there is not a black patch/bar/flag under the second white wingbar.

I’ve used up my image time helping you to distinguish these very similar birds. This is not a big issue as Cornell has very little details on the Hutton’s to pass on to you. They are non-migratory, so definitely a potential find year-round in Madera Canyon. Cornell states they live in “coniferous, evergreen oak and mixed woodlands” – yep, Madera has that covered and you can even forgo the difficult hikes as this one was just hanging out in the picnic area at the farthest point on canyon road.

Will wrap it up there. Hope you enjoyed a look at another new feathered friend to the blog. Now I have to go brace myself for an upcoming expense report as some of our staff made their way out to Vegas.