MacGillivray's Warbler

Jerry Poindexter is a judge and the author of Songbirds I and II (measured drawings, containing 50 patterns. You can reach Jerry via e-mail at icarve@cet.com.

The MacGillivray’s warbler (Oporornis tolmiei) measures between 41⁄2-51⁄2 inches in length and is the Western states’ version of the mourning warbler. The male MacGillivray’s warbler has a gray head, throat, and upper breast, with two distinctive white spots or arcs on the upper and lower eyelids, and blackish lores connecting across the forehead. (The mourning warbler lacks the eye markings.) The reference for the measured drawing and painting notes are from study skins provided by Eastern Washington University. The MacGillivray’s warbler will be the 2016 bird for the “Best in the Northwest” competition at the Columbia Flyway show in Vancouver, Washington this September.