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I.D. Help
Posted by Lisa C.
almost 6 years ago
4 Comments
Is it possible that I saw a Spot-breasted Oriole (1st Year) in Sugden Park, Naples? It would be out of its normal range. I saw the bird on Feb. 2 around 1:00 p.m. on the wooded trail behind the lake. (I'm a visitor to Florida and have never seen this bird before, and do not have a photo.)
Description. Orange-yellow body (extending from breast to undertail coverts, no spots seen on breast. Black wings with orange covert. Black mask on face (do not remember the color of the throat). Orange head (no hood) Greenish upper back, possibly extending up to nape.
Thank you.
Comments
Your description matches Spot-breasted Oriole. Hopefully, someone can find and photograph this bird. There are no records of Spot-breasted Oriole, as far as I can tell, from Collier County. I did come across this eBird submission from the Tampa area from exactly six years ago today: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S13178124. I'm assuming that "a recent remarkable record at Tampa" mentioned in Florida Bird Species: An Annotated List (Greenlaw, Pranty and Bowman, 2014, page 228) refers to this sighting. Though no photographs were included in the eBird submission, someone other than the observer must have viewed photos. Otherwise, this sighting wouldn't be labeled a "record" in Greenlaw, Pranty and Bowman.
Thank you for your response. It would be great if someone can photograph the bird for confirmation. Here are directions to the location on the trail where I saw the bird:
From the parking lot on the north side of the lake, my husband and I walked toward some back ponds in a residential area. Where this trail met back with the main trail, we turned left (toward the parking lot). The bird was seen in this section on the left (west) side of the trail.
Some questions on the location. I am quite familiar with the park and know it's hard to give directions in Sugden because the park doesn't lie north to south. Did you park near the grandstand or near the sailing center? There are no ponds in the back, only canals so that doesn't help. Did you see the bird high in a tree or down near the ground? I only ask because painted buntings are seen in this area and part of your description might fit it.
Thanks for your response. Since I've only been to the park once, the directions I'm giving are based on Google maps. From the satellite images, I'm guessing we parked near the grandstand. The city street immediately north of this parking area is Guilford Rd. (per Google maps). The "ponds" are in the area near Harvest Ct.. I'm pretty sure it was a dirt trail. We didn't see the bird there, I only gave that information for reference. At the point where these "ponds" narrow into a canal, we turned back toward the parking lot . I'm pretty sure that was a paved trail. I referred to it as the "main" trail, but perhaps it would be better described as a "fork". We saw the bird high up in a tree near this fork as we walked back toward the parking lot. It was not a painted bunting, as I'm familiar with that bird.
I hope this helps.
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