Orange-Crowned Warbler

Oreothlypis celata


The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds finds Orange-Crowned Warblers wintering in this part of the state as "uncommon to common winter residents".
This is the description from the Cornell allaboutbirds page:

"Orange-crowned Warblers are fairly plain yellowish or olive-they are more yellow on the Pacific coast and grayer, particularly on the head, farther east. They have a thin white or yellow stripe over the eye, a blackish line through the eye, and a pale partial eyering. The namesake orange crown patch is rarely seen. The undertail coverts are bright yellow and are often the brightest part of the plumage." <https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Orange-crowned_Warbler/id>

 

Donald & Lillian Stokes, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, p. 596, mention a "small whitish mark sometimes visible at the bend of the wing." Both birds here have that.

These properties point to this bird being an Orange-Crowned Warbler:

grayer, particularly on the head, farther east
a blackish line through the eye
a pale partial eyering
undertail coverts are bright [?] yellow and are often the brightest part of the plumage

The bird returned in December, 2017.

Photo taken with a Nikon D300 using a Nikon 400mm f/5.6.

December 24, 2016.