Non-Migrating Wood-Warblers?

Yes.......

....and it’s easy to overlook the fact that the majority of approximately 116 wood-warbler species
(Parulidae family) do not migrate and live year-round in the tropics.

Approximately 64 species of wood-warblers never occur farther north than Mexico.

The true migrators (i.e., neotroprical migrants) – 52* wood-warbler species, such as the Blackburnian, Cerulean, Prothonotary, to name merely three -- with which we enjoy steeping our senses after (too) long winters are primarily breeding residents only within some of the lower 48 USA states.

Interestingly, some states (e.g., CA, TX, GA, FL, and a few southeastern USA states) host one or more wood-warbler species as either winter and/or permanent residents (e.g., The above photo features Common Yellowthroat, thanks to Martin Myers © whose image of this Nevada individual in April is one of 15 subspecies within the Common Yellowthroat species found throughout North America where it breeds in all of the lower 48 USA states.)

Even mid-Atlantic, New England and upper Midwest states regularly host small populations of wood-warbler species that remain year-round. Hardy species surviving northern latitude winters may typically include Yellow-rumped Warbler and Common Yellowthoat, and, less commonly, Yellow-breasted Chat and Palm Warbler. All four of these species are uncommonly to sometimes observed during annual Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) that occur in mid- to northern-latitude states. Whether CBC detections are simply truant individuals that eventually flee winters grip and move south remains uncertain from one year to the next.
But, if suitable micro-habitat conditions occur and the winter season is not too severe, then all four of the aforementioned species may remain during some years.

In general, and in sum, the greater northern latitudes host few numbers of and fewer non-breeding season wood-warblers than southern latitudes corresponding to, say, S. Carolina, Georgia, Florida and other southeastern states.

What about the other 64 remaining tropical resident species (that live primarily outside the USA)? -- the majority of which are wood-warbler species that do NOT migrate. These species’ life histories within the tropics feature some distinct differences from their migrating first-cousins (e.g., Blackpoll and other typical northern North America wood-warbler species), including:

1) tropical resident wood-warbler species tend to have sexes that exhibit the same plumages (unlike the Blackpoll where the female looks starkly different than the male); and 2) the most brilliant of the tropical wood-warbler species express the same bright colors throughout the year; 3) the nesting period for tropical wood-warbler species is often longer.

(* = Note that only 52 of the 116 wood-warblers (Parulidae family) are
typically reliably seen in the lower 48 USA states each year, according to "A Field Guide to Warblers of N. America" authors Jon L. Dunn & Kimball L. Garrett.)

New Kirtland’s Warbler Sighting in Wisconsin

. . . Federally endangered species reported in third WI county (Bayfield County) this breeding season (2008)

. . . To find the following article online as of 7/8/08, go to:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=295036

Dateline:
Nicolet National Forest
by PEDRO OLIVEIRA JR.
Wisconsin State Journal Reporter
608-252-6120
poliveira@madison.com

A pair of Kirtland's warblers, one of the rarest North American birds, has been spotted for the first time in northern Wisconsin, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed last week.

"It's been a little more than 70 years since we've seen any presence of this particular bird," said Anthony Erba, deputy forest supervisor at Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Bayfield County, where the birds were seen. "When you come across something that unexpected ... it's like, 'Whoa, there it is.' "

The Kirtland's warbler has been on the list of federally endangered species since 1967, and was only known to nest in Michigan until last year, when about eight males were spotted in southcentral Wisconsin and two in Canada.

Conservation efforts in Michigan have raised the population of the warblers, which are now expanding outward, said Kim Grveles, assistant ornithologist at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Bureau of Endangered Resources.

About 1,697 males were reported in Michigan in 2007, Grveles said, an increase of about 200 from 2006.

The population increase is mostly credited to efforts from Michigan's Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team, a 40-year-old partnership between private groups and state agencies to manage jack pine, the birds' preferred habitat, for the expansion and nesting of the species in the state, Grveles said.

"Even though we have habitat — and high-quality habitat — for the bird, we just didn't have much confidence that the bird would make that much of a jump to northern Wisconsin," Erba said. "But now we have confirmed presence of this bird in Wisconsin, and that's very exciting for us."

"We started last year doing formal surveys, because we knew that with a population growing like that, they would start dispersing," said Scott Posner, a wildlife biologist at Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest's Washburn Ranger District.

Now that warblers have been confirmed in the region, the next step is to survey the area during the next breeding season to see if the migrating birds are coming back, and then ensure there is suitable habitat for them to breed in the forest, Posner said.

"After that, we will continue monitoring to see what's needed for them," Posner added.

The DNR is talking with land managers about possible management options to encourage the species to come to Wisconsin to breed, Grveles said.

Wisconsin has one of the best opportunities in the Midwest for these birds to increase its population, she added.

“Kirtland’s Nesting in WI This Year? 2007? Ontario, Too?” Answer: Yes (!)

That’s correct, Jay in Jasper. You’re on. It's Larry King Live…..here with Mr. Wood-Warbler tonight as we explore a fascinating explanation to your above question.

Let’s unravel the tale of the First Ever WI Nesting Record of Kirtland’s Warbler in 2007 {with the species AGAIN documented to be nesting this year in at least one WI county (Adams) and, perhaps another (Marinette) where they have also been seen in 2008; see below}:

The discovery of the first-ever Kirtland’s nest in WI begins on May 19, 2007. You’re a birder who is not only passionate, but have devoted your life to the environment as a career. Indeed, you are environmental consultant/wildlife biologist/birder Dean DiTommaso. On this fine spring day in central-southcentral WI, you discover three male Kirtland Warbler’s in a young red pine plantation in Adams County.

Did the intrigued DiTommaso call 911. No, but all banter aside, he did alert the WI DNR of his amazing gem of a discovery — and the Gold Rush was on, so to speak. During the ensuing days, under the guidance of the DNR, DiTomasso found three additional males at another site nearby. On June 2, 2007, the talented DiTommaso made his first observation of a female – thereby documenting the likely 2007 nesting occurrence (given that migrating or wayward Kirtland’s individuals, including females, would more likely be correctly judged as transients possibly moving through WI during May, but not necessarily staying to nest; by June, a sighting of a male and/or female Kirtland’s, or both, increases the chances that nesting is probable to confirmed, pending further monitoring).

Additional female Kirtland’s were seen on June 6 and 9 -- observations that eventually led to the discovery of a second and third nest in mid-June.

In total, during 2007, the DNR (with DiTomasso’s help), documented a total of at least eight singing male Kirtland’s, including three separate active nest sites in Wisconsin.

This year, 2008, the statewide total in WI is 10 males documented (Tom Schultz, personal correspondence, June 28, 2008). At least three female nests have been found. Two of these males were seen in Marinette County (the second County removed north of Green Bay, WI) and at least seven males have been color marked with leg bands (Noel Cutright, personal correspondence, June 29, 2008).

In turn, the perceptive reader may now ask: “Red pine is where the Kirtland’s was found in 2007? That’s interesting, given the Jack Pine is the historically preferred and obligate tree upon which this Federally Endangered wood-warbler usually depends.”

So what gives? Can we expect to conclude the two consecutive years (2007 and 2008) qualify Kirtland’s as an annual breeding species in WI (and, perhaps in Ontario where at least one pair was documented breeding in 2007)? (Sorry, I don’t yet have the status of whether Kirtland’s was again found nesting this year in Ontario.)

In addition, perhaps you’re wondering (like me)?:

Are Kirtland’s likely to spread the breeding ranges (in area) if they become annual breeders in WI and Ontario (beyond the six counties where they regularly nest in Michigan counties near Roscommon in the south-central south area of the state)?

The answer may potentially be “yes,” if the current coordinated Jack Pine planting plan meets its goals as executed by the DNR and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Both of these agencies are combining their wildlife know-how and expertise with forest management efforts by the US Forest Service, Plum Creek Timber Company, and multiple WI County Forest Administrators (Trick, Grveles, DiTommaso, Robaidek, The Passenger Pigeon, Summer 2008).

Other potentially good news is that the above management efforts may help preserve and increase other bird species populations beyond the Kirtland’s. Such rare and declining species in the vicinity -- Vesper Sparrow, Brown Thrasher, and Black-Billed Cuckoo, to name just three species – are the most likely additional avian beneficiaries of prospective management schemes that could be executed to host the Kirtland’s in greater numbers.

So, the moral of the Great Kirtland’s Discovery of 2007? Get out there and bird.

Have fun doing so and Happy Bird Songing By Ear for those birding in the forest like I often do…..Daniel

Seven Species of High Sierra Mountain Wood-Warblers?

Answer:

Yes, the headline query is correct.

The question was prompted by Terese Frederick, one of my former students, who asked me recently if ".........there's more wood-warbler species nesting in the CA Sierra Nevada mountains (High Sierra Mountain Range), including the Yuba Pass area, Sierra County, 30 miles southwest of Truckee) than on the 'flats,' such as counties within the Bay Area?"

The brief answer* is that there's often MORE species annually nesting in the Bay Area than the nearby mountains 130-200 miles east of the Bay Area -- but that's only if you include the coastal counties of Marin and Sonoma.

These two counties constitute two of the Bay Area counties among nine (SF, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Napa, Santa Clara)

In total, among the nine Bay Area counties, the typical RELIABLE annual nesting wood-warbler species include:
- YELLOW
- YELLOW-RUMPED (one of the four Audubon's subspecies)
- BLACK-THROATED GRAY
- WILSON'S
- ORANGE-CROWNED
- COMMON YELLOWTHROAT
- MACGILLIVRAY'S
- HERMIT
- YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT

"See, that's nine," I told Terese, and adding: "That's nine species in the Bay Area and ONLY seven species of nesting wood-warbler species during most breeding seasons in mountainous regions of the Sierras:

the above species minus the YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT."

HOWEVER, in some mountainous areas within the Sierras, NASHVILLE WARBLER nests.

So, we have eight in some areas of the Sierras, I told Terese.

In sum:

Nine Bay Area wood-warbler nesting species vs. eight Sierran species.

The Bay Area wins over the Sierras by a mere one species.

Now, do you folks reading this entry KNOW HOW MANY wood-warbler species nest in the county within which you live?

Feel free to share your total with me as a "comment," below (by clicking on the comment text and entering your thoughts to me). (Please also feel free to vote at the quiz on the right.)

(* = More complex, it appears that N. PARULA may nest occasionally to regularly in Marin Co.
That makes 10 species for the greater Bay Area as nesting wood-warblers.)

Late Warbler Species Still Arriving? Answer: Possibly "Yes"

Tardy me, I’ve been enraptured in my Wisconsin wood-warbler tour (at the Festival of Nature in n. WI) and watching the Prime Time Migration in my home state (WI).

Thus, I’m just back and now digitally-efficient again (vs. digitally deficient in the WI northwoods where I visited).

I’m no ticker, but I do count high enough to note that I detected 25 species of wood-warblers…..without being in “chase” mode. Lots of fun mornings (and days) carousing for the spring birds. It was a 24/7 birding foray. As such, Doc, would you say I have the malady of ASD (Attention Surplus Disorder) for wood-warblers? (They’re my second favorite family…….next to my own).

*

Enough of me, TODAY’S TOPIC relates to the “phenology”/seasonal dates for LATE-ARRIVING wood-warbler species in the Upper Midwest.

This question was posed to me on my tour that I led for the “Festival of Nature” (www.ridgessanctuary.org) (below entry from 5/13/08) as:

“Which wood-warblers are the latest ones to arrive on migration (in the Midwest)?” (asked by Kate Aaron, 5/22/08)

My answer follows#, below:

(# = i.e., spring migration arrival of wood-warblers is, in general, a factor related to wind patterns/weather/temperature, in addition to the level of insect bloom resources present on the landscape. It’s an inexact science, to be glib. BUT tracking the Gulf Stream wind patterns (south and southwest winds are ideal) are good indicators as well as storms/fronts that SOMETIMES serve as harbingers that large numbers of neotropical species/wood-warblers will, in turn, premiere on the landscape.)

Given I grew up in Wisconsin, the following brief, oversimplified information is most pertinent to the southern Wisconsin region, though it’s also generally true for the Upper Midwest region as a whole:

1. Blackpolls and Connecticut Warbler are considered two of the last flavors to arrive on the landscape, though their premiere date may vary widely from spring to spring in s. WI/Upper Midwest.

2. For example:
During some springs (such as this one), Blackpolls may arrive in early May*.

To wit:

This spring, I heard Blackpoll on the first day that I arrived (5/14/08*) while the initial flavors – Yellow-Rumped (YRWA) and Palm Warbler (PAWA) -- in the vanguard march north were ALSO present in large numbers.

(* = Blackpoll may arrive even earlier (late April-5/10 in s. WI is not uncommon)

3. In turn, encountering this kind of species mix is anomalous in my experience of watching the spring march of neotropical migrants in Wisconsin during the last 30 years. (I visit in May and in September, ostensibly to monitor the wood-warbler spring and autumn migration.) The spring weather this season was so cool that I surmised my initial 5/14 birding foray felt more like 5/1-5/4 – in terms of the avifauna species diversity present.

4. That is to say, during most spring seasons, I’ll see Blackpoll AFTER all of the YRWA and PAWA are gone from the landscape – given they do NOT nest in s. WI. Neither does Blackpoll, of course, but it’s typical arrival during some spring seasons is later than the majority of the other newly-arriving migrating wood-warbler species.

In fact, it’s not too unusual for Blackpoll (and Canada, Mourning and Connecticut as the best examples) to arrive in late May and/or, even, early June (though Blackpoll would be the best candidate for a June seasonal premiere in s. WI.

5. A good source for the phenology/seasonal arrival of wood-warblers on the landscape in s. WI/Upper Midwest is "Wisconsin Birds: A checklist with migration graphs" (6th edition, Stanley A. Temple, Robert C. Domagalski, John R. Cary, WI Society for Ornithology, 2003)

6. Lastly, as a personal anecdote, I’ve been in Upper Michigan in the second and third week of May. At this time, along Lake Superior, I’ve met birders searching for Connecticut Warbler in nearby counties. I’m often too sheepish to spoil their fun pursuit, as this species is typically NOT yet present.
Thus, my final tip today is to tell the Yooper/UP’er (Upper Michigan) bird-sleuths to consider the possibility that better Connecticut Warbler (prize-)viewing success may happen by the fourth week in May and, even, early June.

Good (wood-warbler) birding to all…..Daniel

My Upcoming Wood-Warbler Birding Tour in N. WI-Door County

.....and you're invited:

6:30 a.m., 5/23/08, Bailey's Harbor, WI at the annual Festival of Nature 

My birding tour is highlighted at the Ridges Santuary Web site that sponsors the annual festival, so please feel free to visit:

http://www.ridgessanctuary.org/festival.htm

Then, at the site above, click on the "A complete registration brochure can be downloaded by clicking here" to see all nature tours/workshops throughout the weekend's festival.

My tour meets at the beach parking lot/county park adjoining Lake Michigan (across from The Ridges Sanctuary), so hope you can make it. 

I'll have free WI Bird Checklists to give away and other interesting handouts, too -- plus the wood-warblers and other neotropical migrants promise to be the best invited VIP guests to the festivities.  :-)

"It’s Time To Play, 'Who Was Mr. X?' ”

For example:

Who was Mr. Wilson’s Warbler?

Answer:

Alexander Wilson was an early 19th century painter whose prolific production of nine bird volumes approached the virtuoso quality of John James Aububon’s now-classic renditions of avifauna.

In fact, while illustrating 268 bird species (including 26 species never described by ornithologists until Wilson himself identified the birds), he produced eight classic editions of "American Ornithology" (Or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States) between 1808 and 1814,

The result: Wilson’s unlikely yet mercurial advancement in the budding field of ornithology in the early 1800s granted him rarified status among his era’s peers, both artists and scientists, and remains intact today.

Lastly, several bird species carry his name, including Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Wilson’s Plover, Wilson’s Phalarope, and the aforementioned Wilson’s Warbler (in addition to the wood warbler genus Wilsonia that contains the Wilson’s Warbler, Wilsonia pusilla, and two other New World, Parulidae family/wood warbler family members). Even the Wilson’s Journal of Ornithology is named in his honor.

(This post's contents were assisted by Robin Dakin.........and references used included 1) Birds of North America online; 2) The Birder's Handbook; and 3) Wikipedia)