English and Scientific names:	Bell’s Vireo, Vireo bellii
Number of individuals:	One, age and sex unknown
Locality: LOUISIANA:	Cameron Parish
Specific Locality:	About 1 mile E of Rutherford Beach community, where the beach road meets the gate at the old mouth of the Mermentau.
Date(s) when observed:	September 25, 2004
Time(s) of day when observed:	Beginning around 9:45 A.M.
Reporting observer and address:	Paul Conover Lafayette, LA
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):	None
Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):	Morning sun, not too bright. Good light, and seen from all directions relative to sun position.
Optical equipment:	Zeiss 10x binos, Sony camcorder
Distance to bird(s):	Initially about 15 yards, down to about 5 yards.
Duration of observation:	About 10 minutes, with bird moving in and out of thick growth.
Habitat:	Scrub [acacia and short toothache trees] scattered in a dense roadside hedge of Gaura and grasses.
Behavior of bird:	Foraging actively, moving almost constantly, flicking tail [actually, I think, spreading the tail so fast it appeared as flicking] habitually. Bird worked in thick scrub, moving in and out of openings, retracing paths, almost entirely within 4 feet of ground. Hovered at times to glean; also lunged, flung open wings, and hung upside down in pursuit of prey a few times.
Description:	A smallish, ‘warbler’-sized passerine with wingbars. Dark-eyed, somewhat slender, slender-headed, and with a relatively long tail. Bill fairly long and stout. Crown a neutral grayish or gray-green, with a greenish wash on nape, and dull greenish mantle that contrasted with crown. Diffuse whitish eye crescents, divided by duskier lores and post-ocular line. Flight feathers dusky, edged lighter. Two whitish wingbars, a distinct one on the greater coverts, a much weaker one on the median coverts. Ground color of underparts whitish. Throat fairly bright white [with a gray on white contrast on the malar region]. Flanks clear yellow, belly and tibial feathering white. Across the upper breast, there was a hint of a dusky vest. The overall appearance of the underparts, with clear white throat, yellow flanks and vest reminiscent of fresh Alder Flycatcher[though less pronounced]. Legs grayish. Bill dusky on upper, paler on lower mandible. Eye dark. From the extent and depth of yellow, I assume this was an eastern bird.
Voice:	Not heard.
Similar species:	Warbling and Philadelphia Vireos: no wingbars. Orange-crowned, Prairie, Pine Warbler: Bill of O-C is slimmer, Prairie brighter and more extensively yellow beneath, Pine has more discrete eye markings. White-eyed Vireo, especially worn first-year birds, are most similar. White-eyed has shorter tail, shorter, stockier bill and appears chunkier overall. A look at the stills of this bird should easily eliminate doubt of confusion with young White-eyed.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	Video; stills from video accompanying report.
Previous experience with this species:	Many out west, a few in Louisiana, including eastern and western subspecies.
Identification aids:	Bell’s is considered a tough ID,but it’s easier to turn something else into a Bell’s than to mistake a Bell’s when you see it. I surmised what this bird was when I saw a greenish bird acting like a gnatcatcher, and after about a 2-second glance through binos to confirm, began to videotape it. It was clearly a Bell’s.
This description is written from:	Memory, examination of video.
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	Yes.
Reporter:	Paul Conover
Date and time:	September 25, 2004