Red Rock SP Hybrid Tanager

Thought folks might be interested in seeing an interesting hybrid tanager at Red Rock State Park. This is almost certainly a Western X Summer Tanager hybrid, and a super cool bird. It's been summering at RRSP since at least 2006, the year I first located it (and puzzled over its ID as a relatively novice birder at the time). This is a hybrid combo that as far as I can tell is not previously documented, so I need to write it up formally.

I went today to see if he was back for another summer, with high hopes of getting some quality photos. I was delighted to find him back again, but he was pretty elusive and the only shots I got were documentary quality very high ISO.

He's a spectacular bird, and I've been disappointed over the years by the relative lack of interest from most local birders. (Hybrids don't count on a list!)

Anyone interested in delving into ID points may want to read some of the previous discussions linked to at this post:
http://nazaudubon.com/sightings/viewthread.php?tid=4279

Fascinating. This should be submitted to AZFO.org if you haven't already.

Just checked azfo.org and see your shots from previous years. Good stuff.

thanks for the reminder, Rich. I uploaded the photo, so it should be up in the next couple days.

now I need a shot of this guy that is worthy of the critique galleries...

I've never seen either and here you get both in 1 shot! Guess that's "killing 2 birds with 1 stone"...