
Lighting conditions were far from ideal, so I don't have any calendar photos. I took many photos and the ones shown here are the 'best', i.e. least shitty.
That this is a goldencheek should be fairly obvious. But what sex and age is this bird?

The head-on shot shows an obvious yellow median stripe on the forehead, which according to Dunn & Garrett (1997) is more pronounced in adult males than in other plumages.
So we have a dark upper chin, a dark forehead, crown and hind neck, and a pronounced median stripe on the forehead all arguing in favor of a male. I think this bird may be an immature male - mainly based on the dark upper chin - since it is clearly not an adult male: the upperparts would have to be black; and apparently not a female: the chin is dark.

Other flock members in today's mixed warbler flock included a Golden-winged Warbler, a pair of Hepatic Tanagers, three Hermit Warblers, two Grace's Warblers, a Greater Pewee, a Blue-headed Vireo, a Buff-breasted Flycatcher, two Slate-throated Redstarts, three Townsend's Warblers, three Tennessee Warblers (there were more in nearby flowering trees), two Acorn Woodpeckers, two Black-and-white Warblers, a Painted Redstart, three Wilson's Warblers, two Black-throated Green Warblers, a Northern Flicker, a Golden-Olive Woodpecker, and two Brown Creepers.
Literature cited:
Dunn, Jon & Garrett, Kimball (1997) A Field Guide to the Warblers of North America; Peterson Field Guide Series 49; Houghton Mifflin, New York.
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