Vireo Odd Couple

A male Warbling Vireo and a female Red-eyed Vireo nested and hatched two chicks at a park here in Reno. They've become local avian celebrities, partly because of the unusual pairing and also because the Red-eyed is a very unusual bird in northern Nevada. The two chicks left the nest yesterday and lots of folks have been keeping an eye on them.

These aren't the greatest images - I needed more light and steadier hands. The feeding pics are very heavy crops since everyone was trying to give them plenty of space. But I thought some of you might find them interesting.

1. Warbling Vireo

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kendrozd/924366​9381/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kendrozd/924645​9040/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kendrozd/927424​5056/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kendrozd/927425​5966/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kendrozd/927425​0738/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kendrozd/927145​3041/

How did the one chick end up on the ground?

Madjackdog wrote in post #16115973
How did the one chick end up on the ground?

It's actually two. They were maybe 50 or 60 feet apart by this afternoon. It's windy here in the afternoon, and they were probably getting crowded in the nest and couldn't hang on to the branch. The female (the Red-eyed) would feed three or four bugs to one and then the other. No one reported seeing the male today.

Can it be determined yet whether the chicks are hybrids? Sometimes the nestmate of a female songbird isn't the father of her offspring.

OhLook wrote in post #16116032
Can it be determined yet whether the chicks are hybrids? Sometimes the nestmate of a female songbird isn't the father of her offspring.

I heard that some pinfeathers were collected. The Warbling was the one doing all of the singing, It's likely the male. It's very unlikely there is another Red-eyed around here.