Returning Wood-Warblers In The Bay Area

Birders are reporting the initial appearance of northbound migrating wood-warblers to the Bay Area this week.

Newly-arrived ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS are currently joining brave over-wintering populations, with Oak-Bay woodlands one of the best habitats to hear and seem them.

Note the annual date range of first-returning migrants for this species in Marin County (the initial county north of the Golden Gate Bridge) is 2/18 (earliest detection) through 3/16 (latest detection), according to Dave Shuford’s “The Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas.”

Soon, other nesting wood-warblers of the Bay Area shall also appear, with their identities and date range of arrivals in parentheses below:

- WILSON’S (3/10 – 4/8) (shown above)

- BLACK-THROATED GRAY (3/31- 4/27)

- YELLOW (4/8 – 4/23)

- MACGILLIVRAY’S (4/3 – 4/30)

For a comprehensive list of arrival dates for Marin County landbirds, feel free to visit my Web site (www.warblerwatch.com) where there’s a button that provides access to the Atlas’ chart (page 39).