Warbler Guy, where can I quickly learn more about confusing fall warblers that I am starting to see now as the warbler migration begins in North America? Are hybrid (intergrade) warblers common to see as part of the confusing fall warblers I sometimes see among migrating warblers?

(above graphic courtesy of Peterson Guide to Birds, Houghton Mifflin Publishing)

*

Here’s a rapid relief answer, Jason (in Pittsburgh):

Please feel free to see pages 524- 525 in the new (and excellent) The Warbler Guide (Tom Stephenson & Scott Whittle. 2013. University of Princeton Press. $29.95; nathist.princeton.edu).

Beyond this basic overview associated with hybrid warblers, throughout this aforementioned book you can view comparative/contrast photos that will help

solve your confusing fall warbler puzzlements.

Does this help?

If so, or for anyone else reading this, PLEASE feel free to join this blog as a “follower” (top righthand column where other followers are shown in photos). Your privacy is protected and no spam/invasions will occur if you join as a “follower.” Thanks in advance, Daniel (danieledelstein at att.net) (that’s an @ symbol you’ll need to use instead of the word “at” in the second line up within my email #). line up within my email #).

Warbler Guy, where can I find warbler song finder charts? Where can I see warbler sonograms? Are reading bird sonograms difficult?

EZ answer, Jodie (in San Jose).

The recently published The Warbler Guide (noted below in a recent article) is one fine perch to grab: p. 116-137 features East & West Coast warbler sonograms.

An explanation to help you “read” them is also present in this excellent new book.

I’ll share additional thoughts on other wonderful features in this book in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, time to go birding, so I am now a scissors, cutting out of here (bada bum....).

Introducing "The Warbler Guide" (Tom Stephenson & Scott Whittle; illustrated by Catherine Hamilton)

…..and kudos to the authors: Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle (and primary illustrator Catherine Hamilton) (Princeton University Press, 2013…..press.princeton.edu)

Compliments aplenty…..plentitude of 
excellent, new features and chapters in this guide that are NOT present in other wood-warbler publications distributed since the 1960s.

I have some qualification remarks related to subspecies and their graphic representation in the maps corresponding to each species.

But, otherwise, Thumbs Up.

And I will not further borrow your eyeballs here with more details about this Must Read & Must Have guide (for wood-warbler aficionados)….yet, please feel free to note that I am writing a review.

Please email me privately, if you wish to receive it — and I'll send it to you as an attachment in the future and/or provide a link to a web site where my review appears. My seven-year wood-warbler-centric blog also will host the review soon: 
http://warblerwatch.blogspot.com….while my web site already contains a Warbler ID Tips text button link (three tables for ~50 USA wood-warblers).

Regards and good birding (indeed), Daniel, 
who notes the authors must believe the AOU is soon planning on hitting the delete key for the Yellow-breasted Chat……and removing it from the wood-warbler family/Parulidae family, given this species is NOT included in the wood-warbler section 
{Instead, the authors feature the Yellow-breasted Chat among other taxa in a chapter titled "Similar Non-Warbler Species" (!)}

Warbler Guy, what are some techniques I can use to increase my ability to remember warbler songs and commit them to my long-term memory? Birding by ear tips you recommend?

Excellent question, Bernice (in Chicago).

Everyone’s different, I have discovered, in terms of learning style in the field and progressing toward a Master’s of Science in IDing Birds By Ear.

That’s why I offer 10 diverse hints in my Top Ten Tips To Improving Your Birding By Ear handout that’s free at my web site: warblerwatch.com
(NOTE: As of 6/30/13, this handout is temporarily missing from my web site. It will soon reappear, so, meanwhile, please email me at the following # if you wish to receive it from me:
danieledelstein at att.net (use an @ symbol, of course, to replace the word "at" on the left in my email #.) 

There, first click on “Birding Links,” and when the next screen shows a menu of files, click on Top Ten Tips To Improving Your Birding By Ear to access it and/or print it.

As a prequel to what you’ll read, here’s one tip among the 10:

#5. “Draw” bird vocalizations using your own “short-hand” notation marks, ala the chapter in Sibley’s Birding Basics (i.e., a quasi-sonogram shorthand method that he introduces). After your birding foray and when you’re out of the field, use these written notation marks while listening to songs/calls on media (e.g., CDs) to ID the species you heard and/or better learn their song/call patterns.

Warbler Guy, are any wood-warbler names changing soon? Will pending American Ornithological Union (AOU) name change proposals for vote in July, 2013 include wood-warbler species?

Good news, Hank (in Boston): No pending wood-warbler name changes are on the front burner (or back burner).

But if you wish to see the other potential avian name changes that may soon occur in the AOU area, see:

http://www.aou.org/committees/nacc/proposals/pending.php

Then again, if you’re into wood-warbler name changes, here’s a quick quiz:

Before all the Dendroica USA-based wood-warbler members were whacked and joined the lone Setophaga member to make 22 in this genus within the USA*, which “lone eagle” is no longer lonely?

In other words, until recently there was one Setophaga genus member and it was and is a common wood-warbler species. Its name?

For the answer, email me (danieledelstein at att.net) or come back here in the next week. I’ll post the answer.

OK, see you on the trail....have binos will travel.

(* = Other, additional species in the Setophaga genus occur outside the USA.)

Warbler Guy, how do I ID western warbler songs from each other? Will sonograms of warbler songs help my effort?

Jasper (in Washington state), to help you, check out some western USA warbler sonograms:

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/archive/warbler/sonoguide.html

Using them in combination with audio recording of each species’ song may be a good strategy to successfully “reading” corresponding sonogram for a given species.

Two sound-alike western species sonograms — the Hermit and Black-throated Gray Warbler — are shown here. Where their nesting ranges overlap (e.g., Mendocina County in northern California, among other places), you can sometimes hear them singing in the same forest.

In addition to these sonograms, my solution is to listen carefully when afield. Both species appear to possess dialects that may vary be region. But, for what it’s worth,  

my description of the Hermit’s song is that it’s more wheezy and less articulate/focused than the Black-throated Gray’s.

At http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/archive/warbler/sonoguide.html, the author has his own description of how to distinguish each warbler’s song.

In addition: Donald E. Kroodsma’s book “The Singing Life of Birds” provides clues on how to “read” a sonogram as does his chapter “Vocal Behavior in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology produced “Home Study Course” that you can purchase (See:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/homestudy).

Ultimately, it’s my humble opinion that getting out as often as possible during the breeding season and listening is the best remedy. Simply: What You Sow, Yee Shall Reap by listening carefully each time you’re afield where the warblers sing.

Warbler Guy, which is the most common warbler to see in my suburban wooded backyard near Madison, WI after the peak of migration is over? In the Santa Cruz area where we have a winter home?

The answers for my peripatetic birder friend, Robert, (in Madison), are short and long.

Let’s stay with the brief ones so you can get back to birding outdoors (where I’d rather be now, truthfully (!) )

In Dane Co. where Madison lies, and depending on your yard’s habitat and its nearby vegetational makeup, you can often see Common Yellowthroat (in moist thickets and/or wetland areas where emergents occur), American Redstart (in forests), and Yellow Warbler (also most often in moist thickets and riparian areas).

As for the Santa Cruz area of California, the leading suspects during the non-breeding season (winter) include Townsend’s Warbler (a non-breeding season visitor only), Common Yellowthroat (a resident), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (non-breeding season only), with less likely visits from Hermit, Yellow-breasted Chat, Black-throated Gray, Wilson’s, and Orange-crowned, (with the latter often the most typical “winter” sighting among the final five listed above.

Hope this helps. Now back to our regularly scheduled program, meaning I’m outta here with my binos.

(male Common Yellowthroat,

below/right; photo by
Dan Pancamo)