Warblers on Christmas Bird Counts? Are they easy to find, Warbler Guy? Which warblers might I see during wintery-wintery Christmas Bird Count walks?

Good question, Cristin (in Davenport, IA).

Maybe you should head to Ashland, WI to see the true version of the BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER shown in this photo from 11/23/12?

Will it hang around long enough for you to see on the local Christmas Bird Count there?

Read the account from Ryan Brady, below, and you'll notice how rare it is to see this species so far north in late November.

As for more likely wood-warbler species to see in northern latitudes (upper Midwest, for example) in late December and early January: Yellow-rumped, Pine, Palm, Common Yellow-throat, Orange-crowned, and Yellow-breasted Chat are more likely suspects. Yellow-rumped is probably the most likely of the above list, with Pine next typical.

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Yesterday when the temps were a balmy 60+ degrees I was sent a photo of a female BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER at a feeder in Cornucopia, the northernmost town in Wisconsin.  If accepted by the Records Committee, it would be the 3rd latest in Wisconsin history.  With wind chills now in the teens and 6-9" of fresh snow across the Bayfield Peninsula, we'll see how it fares.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32706210@N05/8212908272/in/pool-wisconsinebird

Interestingly, the homeowner also commented on seeing a flycatcher of some type (possible E. Phoebe), which is one that may have gotten away given the potential for a southwestern vagrant along this Great Lakes shoreline.  And one final tidbit, this is the same residence that recently hosted a Summer Tanager and not-so-recently hosted our only local record of Green-tailed Towhee. If his house ever goes up for sale, you know who will be first in line!

Not quite as rare but still a great find, budding young birder and photographer Cody Christenson found a PINE WARBLER at his feeders just west of Ashland in the snowy cold this morning.  I believe our latest, or perhaps second latest, local record.


Ryan Brady
Washburn, Bayfield County, WI
http://www.pbase.com/rbrady

Warbler Guy, where would you go now to see Palm Warbler? Blackpoll Warbler? Yellow-throated Warbler?

Coincidentally, Evan (in Los Angeles), all three of these species are currently present in San Francisco's urban clutches within Sue Bierman Park (near the Ferry Building in the downtown area). Josiah Clark's recent post in SF Birds confirmed their presence.

In recent years, this "island of green" has hosted more than a few species of wayward wood-warbler species.

The urban-based, warbler-pursuing paparrazzi shall not be disappointed again this year, with the Yellow-throated Warbler repeatedly seen for the last weeks in this inner-city location.

To find it, go to the right side of this blog and note the bird's presence in the California bird species report, then click on the hot text button to see a Google map. Or type in "Sue Bierman Park, San Francisco" within Google maps to find this location.

By the way, if you see the Yellow-throated Warbler, it's gleaming, breeding plumage is evident because as adults, members of this species undergo only one full molt annually (i.e., A pre-alternate molt is absent, unlike the vast majority of wood-warblers that express this molting phase.) The result: After a late summer/fall complete "pre-basic molt," the current rendition of this species retains its current, bright regal glory amid the nearby bustle of downtown San Francisco.

Warbler Guy, which late migrating warblers might I see now? Is Orange-crowned seen in New England this late?

Alexandria (in New Haven, CT).

Yes, it's true Orange-crowned Warbler may be present in New England this late.

Although most of the Canadian and Alaskan subspecies (Oreothlypis celata celata) found in the USA by this time are in the southern USA, a few brave ones persist now from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. Even fewer will remain by the time Christmas Bird Count results are tabulated, but it's not uncommon for some groups to see Orange-crowned into the new year and, during some non-breeding seasons, some will through the winter as far north as New England.

That's why the recent Rare Bird Alert posting, below, from Rhode Island is notable.

As for other wood-warbler species that are sometimes seen in northern latitudes (e.g., From Wisconsin east to New England) in late October, look for Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, and Yellow-breasted Chat as leading candidates. Evidently, Tennessee Warbler is also a member of the truant bunch this year, given the same Rhode Island posting, below.

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* Rare Bird Alert * Rhode Island * Statewide * October 28, 2012 * RIRI1210.28 - Birds mentioned WOOD SANDPIPER RUFF DICKCISSEL Snow Bunting Ipswich Savannah Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Dunlin VESPER SPARROW Lapland Longspur ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER EVENING GROSBEAK Pine Siskin Tennessee Warbler Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher American Bittern date: October 28, 2012 (401) 949-5454 or 245-7500 ext 3052 compiler: Janice St.Jean transcriber: Janice St.Jean (_DLSaint@aol_ (mailto:DLSaint@aol) ) _www.asri.org_ (http://www.asri.org) Welcome to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island's bird alert for October 28th, 2012. This report covers the period from October 21st to October 27th, and will be updated in about one week. The WOOD SANDPIPER that was found at Marsh Meadows in Jamestown on the 13th, is still being seen every day. The bird frequents the Northeast and Northwest corners of the marsh. Park at the water treatment plant on North Road. To reach the NW corner of the marsh, take the public access path on the left, or south, of the chain-link fence at the plant. After a short walk and after a white pipe, take the much narrower path to the marsh on your left. Once at the marsh, walk right along the marsh edge for about 50 yards. To reach the the NE corner, take the marsh-edge trail on the East side of the road, across the street from the treatment plant, and follow the well worn path to the back pools where the bird feeds. Trails are getting worn and muddy, boots are recommended. On the 22nd, a BALD EAGLE was spotted there. A juvenile RUFF was found in Barrington on the 23rd, and has been observed every day since then. It is in the marsh adjacent to Barrington Country Club along Nyatt Road. Access can be gained from RISD's Tillinghast estate. Park in the dirt lot and Walk down the trail through the mowed field to the path that cuts through the marsh. A DICKCISSEL was seen here on the 24th, AND 2 SNOW BUNTINGS were viewed on the 25th. Other sightings this past week included: 1 Ipswich SAVANNAH SPARROW, 2 NELSON'S SPARROWS, 1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, 2 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 1 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and 2 DUNLIN. At Sunset Farm in Narraganset, 3 VESPER SPARROWS were seen on the 21st. A single VESPER SPARROW was observed along a field edge in the Seapowet area of Tiverton on the 22nd. In Westerly, a LAPLAND LONGSPUR was on the lawn and in the parking lot at the Watch Hill Lighthouse on the 27th. At Avondale Farm Preserve, 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen on the 23rd. Sightings of EVENING GROSBEAK are being reported, with a flyover at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island's Caratunk Refuge in Seekonk on the 25th, a visit by 3 at a feeder in Middletown, and another 3 were sighted at a feeder in Charlestown this week. In addition, PINE SISKINS continue to invade all parts of the state. A TENNESSEE WARBLER was studied in Little Compton, at the Goulart Community Garden on the 26th. On the 23rd, 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, 5 HERMIT THRUSHES and 2 BROWN THRASHERS were found at Camp Cronin in Point Judith. Finally, at Mud pond at the end of Moonstone Beach Road in South Kingstown, 1 AMERICAN BITTERN was seen. The water level at Mud and Card's Pond has been lowered. That's all for this week, thank you for calling and good birding! - End transcript

Fab Five Warbler Photo Quiz #6

Another warbler photo quiz? Just pleasing the customers who asked for ANOTHER
photo quiz of warblers.

More specific, the following wood-warbler photo quiz has four easy
ones and the fifth is more often heard than seen (and, big hint: looks like a Worm-Eating Warbler, but is not this species....see below photos, all courtesy of Martin Meyers).

Good luck and I'll post the answers by around 11/1/12 in a new post. Please check back, if you wish....Warbler Guy (Daniel Edelstein, www.warblerwatch.com)

Warbler Guy, where do I learn about "reading" warbler songs (sonograms or spectrograms)? Is Warbler song easy to "read?"

Kathy, there's a one-stop shopping venue for all your edification needs: earbirding.com

Here, Nathan Pieplow, an erudite sound recordist and expert birder, highlights many "ear birding"
elements, including ways for you to easily read sonograms/spectrograms.

This site is so good that it gets a top rating from Warbler Guy's advisory panel: me, myself, and I.

Seriously, reading and interpreting sonograms/spectrograms takes practice, but after a while you can
see the elements upon the page that originally looked like gibberish make sense.

Ergo, you'll quickly have no problems identifying a song sparrow classic song via its sonogram in comparison to a common yellowthroat's, and so on.

Other resources for identifying birds by sound and "ear birding" abound.....Some of my favorite are books by Dr. Donald Kroodsma, who authored the classic:
The Singing Life Of Birds.

Warbler Guy: Which wood-warblers benefit from people changing their coffee drinking patterns by buying beans that are “shade grown”....?

Warbler Guy: Which wood-warbler species' utilize non-breeding season habitat in the tropics that includes "shade grown" coffee farms? In theory, is it correct that 

changing coffee drinking patterns favoring "shade grown" coffee could benefit songbirds such as wood-warblers?

The brief answer, Jeremiah (in Rockford, IL)

is to note that several wood-warbler species likely

benefit from changed coffee farming methods that

favor “shade-grown” coffee, including Canada, Wilson's, Black-throated Green, and Cerulean Warbler. Cerulean populations, in specific, have dropped precipitously, perhaps in part due to habitat destruction of their "wintering" grounds (per Breeding Bird Survey trends and results suggested by other monitoring efforts).

To learn more (go to the ShadeCoffee.org web site) and/or see the following two links:

http:nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi.migratorybirds/coffee

(For a nice overview of a blog site article related to the benefits of using "shade grown" coffee as your morning delight choice, please see: http://naturallyavian.blogspot.com)

http://www.fws.gov/birds/documents/LR-CoffeeBirds.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Q-jkmF-HQo0J:www.birdsandbeans.com/FactSheetonMigratoryBirdsinShadeCoffeePlantations.pdf+wood-warbler+coffee&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgo8sf7YWBtzwF50tIobylT4yhhqTVHtvs4vE3ujvWkY7ojYEkbcXcnMcV1NnuG-Us4KwjijFJPnZHbMZr4IsoYcLk7vXHs4RjZYBe-hbao2RUJv5QcEXLoT6Cpy7V5uxSW8Eh0&sig=AHIEtbR537Bc4GGn3274ZYuQ-eVv6Rs0zg

Warbler Guy: Among the strangest warbler questions, a leading one must be: Why is the Yellow-breasted Chat still classified a wood-warbler?

Smart question, Andrea (in Spokane, WA).


Because even a quick glance at a chat suggests — even "yells" — the thought: This species is NOT a warbler, given the large bill (in comparison to other wood-warbler species), large size (two inches bigger than many other wood-warbler species), and a mimic-like/Mimidae family member-like song that is unlike the more dainty, plaintive song heard in most other wood-warbler species.

So: Here's why the Yellow-breasted remains in the wood-warbler family (Parulidae), despite considerable mutiny and bounty dialog that seeks to oust it. Note that two respected analyses of this warbler species’ blood anatomy (i.e., its molecular characters) continue to place the species in the wood-warbler family. More specific (for you molecularly-literate warbler fans), based on the analysis of proteins encoded by loci in various wood-warbler species, the chat remains grouped with other wood-warbler family members. 

Other researchers — including David Sibley’s dad, Charles Sibley — concluded, likewise, through blood analysis (i.e., DNA hyridization) that the chat should remain in the warbler family, despite comparisons of it to tanagers, vireos, mimids (Mimidae family members), and other bird groups.  

OK, I'll abide. The taxonomists know a lot more than me. 

But if a chat is a warbler, then Santa Claus needs scuba diving gear.