Figure 273. Blue-winged x Golden-winged Warbler hybrids are rare in the general population, but California has recorded four of them. This classic first-spring male Brewster’s Warbler was photographed on 6 June 1991 on Southeast Farallon Island (1991-080; Peter Pyle).

 

 

 

 

 

BLUE-WINGED x GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER Vermivora pinus x V. chrysoptera

Accepted: 4 (80%)	Treated in Appendix H: no
Not accepted: 1	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 0	Large color image: see Figure

This hybrid combination, called Brewster’s Warbler in the genetically dominant form (Parkes 1951, Gill 1980) and Lawrence’s Warbler in the genetically recessive form, has occurred at least four times in California. The state’s first record came on 1 October 1973, when a probable Brewster’s × Blue-winged backcross was observed at Fairhaven in Humboldt County (Schulenberg and Summers 1974). Kenneth C. Parkes believed that a year-old male found dead on 3 July 1984 at the sewage ponds in Westwood, Lassen County, was a hybrid backcrossed with a Golden-winged Warbler (Dunn 1988). A first-spring male Brewster’s Warbler reached Southeast Farallon Island on 6 June 1991 (Figure 273). Lastly, between 15 and 19 May 2001, a hybrid female similar to the 1984 bird was photographed on Pt. Loma in San Diego County.

Shapiro (2005) provided a useful recent review of the various hybrid forms, including many photographs.