Warbler Guy, which bird apps are the best ones? Are apps for birds worth their price? Is iBird Pro app better than Peterson Birds of N. America?

Good question, Harrison (in Tacoma).

I like and use a few.

My faves include (in order of preference):

1. Peterson Birds of North America, Appweavers.com ($29.99)
This one has premium features that make it easy to navigate, plus you can enter your own
sightings to create lists that provide you an ongoing journal of your birding forays. This feature alone helps personalize
it and provides an interactivity that is missing in the other apps. Plus, you can "talk" with your birding friends to compare and contrast how your day's list of bird sightings is different from theirs.

2. iBird Pro ($29.99), ibirdexplorer.com
When it's quick access you need to hear a bird sing, then this is the app you should draw from your holster.
Its simple, easy design makes it a pleasure to use, with the premium edition (this one) more pricey ($29.95)
than many bird apps, yet worth the price. Photos of a bird, its range map, information, vocalizations and more
present for more than 600 species.

3. Sibley Guide to birds of North America ($29.95), http://www.mydigitalearth.com
Featuring more than 6,600 bird images and 2,300 song files. My favorite feature is the visual representation of each succeeding age class among multiple gull drawings featured in the Laridae family area.

Warbler Guy: Do you agree that "HeadsUp Warblers" is a “Thumbs-Up” new app?

Yes, given I read review of it in the May, 2011 Birding Magazine (www.ABA.org), page 64, “HeadsUp Warblers: An App by the Makers of birdJam."

In response, I bought it for a mere $7.95 at the
iTunes store that is reached via www.apple.com)

Verdict: Nice job, birdJam folks.

Plenty of reasons to buy it, whether you're a beginner or advanced warbler-watcher.

Full disclosure: I have no economic connection with birdJam, but I do have this one self-admitted popular
wood-warbler blog site.

Populating it with info. about wood-warblers is the mission.

A similar spike in warbler fans pledging allegiance to "HeadsUp" won't be too hard for birdJam, based on its latest-greatest.

BTW:

What are my readers' thoughts on the quality of HeadsUp Warblers? Feel free to post a comment, below, so
that we'll know where you stand on this new title.

Enjoy the wood-warblers.....(If you're reading this at night in a far northern USA latittude, then millions of ww's are currently passing through your area.)

Warbler Guy, does the spring Blackpoll Warbler migration distance equal its long distance trek in the fall?

Yes, Amy (in Baton Rouge), for some populations, Blackpoll’s north and southward migration routes are likely the longest of all wood-warbler family members. The well-noted 2,150 autumn migration distance some New England Blackpoll partake in the autumn as trans-ocean migrants is a breathtaking marvel. Seventy-two to 90 continuous hours of migration over the ocean by a half-ounce bird seems an impossible feat. But imagine the current spring-time migrants (see graphic, courtesy of the borealbirds.org and the map created by eNature, which is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts). Some travel 100-150 miles per night, with some doing so for weeks and eventually reaching Alaska after beginning their path in n. South America. Equally awe-inspiring, correct?

Warbler Quiz Answers: Latest Ones On Right Side Of This Page

You're a warbler quiz wiz?

You be the judge, as here's the answers to the most recent warbler quizzes (that appear on the right column as you scroll down from one to the next).

- Quiz Question:
(Myrtle) Yellow-rumped Warbler are one of the initial wood-warblers to return at northern latitudes in the USA because:

ANSWER: all of the above

- Quiz Question:

Unlike the majority of USA warblers that are trans-gulf migrants, the following species shuns over-water flight and, instead, uses C. Am. & Mexico to reach USA breeding grounds:

ANSWER: Nashville Warbler

- Quiz Question:

Which wood-warbler is documented to periodically eat fish?

ANSWER: Louisiana Waterthrush

- Quiz Question:

By the first week of March, which returning wood-warbler is the second or third most abundant wood-warbler species in the USA?

ANSWER:

Orange-crowned Warbler, as the majority of West Coast neotropical migrants typically return to breeding grounds by early to mid-March (with the initial pulse often occurring in late February, depending on latitude).