Tennessee warbler, Oreothlypis peregrina (formerly, Vermivora peregrina and Helminthophila peregrina; protonym, Sylvia peregrina), photographed on a sailboat in a deep fog on Lake Superior, southeast of Isle Royale National Park (USA).
Image: Anne Hay, 22 August 2007 (with permission) [velociraptorize].
Sony DSC-H5, ISO: 160, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec
Question: This neotropical mystery bird was named for the location where the first specimen was shot dead by an early naturalist. Can you name this species and the naturalist who collected it?
Response: This is an adult Tennessee warbler, Oreothlypis peregrina. This species, which neither breeds nor winters in the state of Tennessee, was named in recognition of the first specimen ever collected was shot in 1832 on the banks of Tennessee's Cumberland River. That unfortunate individual was collected during its annual migration by naturalist and artist, Alexander Wilson. Wilson is notable because he co-wrote and illustrated the book, American Ornithology, with French ornithologist, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, a nephew of Emperor Napoleon.
You've seen this species before and learned how to identify it (this is also where I quoted some of the material presented here).
Here's a sweet video from June 2011 of a male Tennessee warbler on his territory in a Maine boreal forest, singing his little heart out (even though the sound quality is very crisp and clean, you'll have to turn the volume waaay up or plug in your earbuds because this video is very quiet):
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at The Guardian, feel free to contact me to learn more.
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