Warbler Guy, your publicity agent told me you were interviewed about San Francisco Bay birding trips recently on Earth News Journal. True?

Yes, Grace.....

To hear a 2014 Earth News Journal interview where I highlight birding trip options in the SF Bay Area, please visit the following link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCK6eWjERyw&list=UUoxEFma744u4rhkwvCJMfNQ

Now back to our regular warbler programming. 

Happy spring birding! Daniel

danieledelstein@att.net

warblerwatch.com

Warbler Guy: What's a good web site for warbler songs? Songs of warblers are best heard on the web and who explains warbler calls and songs?

Here's where you should know about, James (in Vancouver):

http://www.xeno-canto.org

GR8 web site...Type in the name of the bird species you wish to hear and, amazingly, dozens of different recordings from acoustic birders appear. Explore the list by scrolling down to read descriptions of each recording, then click on the ones you wish to hear.

A fantastic web site related to bird song ecology and excellent articles is:

earbirding.com

Here, Nathan Pieplow, professional sound recordist and birder extraordinaire, features incisive accounts related to bird songs and calls.

His latest post from 2/28/14 notes excellent news with the announcement that the Florida Museum of Natural History now allows users access to is large collection of bird sound recordings. To find it, go to:

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/bird-sounds/

To read more about bird song ecology, I recommend Dr. Donald Kroodsma's book The Singing Life of Birds.

Warbler Guy: Migrating warblers cross the Gulf? Or do warblers migrate by land? Both ways?

Great question, Eric.

Answer: both, as the majority of breeding eastern and midwestern USA wood-warblers migrate north over the Gulf of Mexico (and, hence, are often referred to as "Trans-Gulf Migrants."

A couple of land-migrating only wood-warblers that avoid the 500-mile over-water excursion include Nashville Warbler and Mourning Warbler.

A qualification: western USA breeding wood-warbler species may travel different flyway routes that never require them to travel over large bodies of water such as the Gulf.

(ABOVE: Blackpoll Warbler autumn migration route (right-most arrows) and spring migration routes (arrows shown in middle of map. Non-breeding range = blue color in S. America; breeding territory range = orange color.)

More on this subject shall appear as an upcoming new post here soon. Please check back.

Please note:

A fine, general overview of this migration phenomena is accessed at:
http://alabamaforeverwild.com/index.php/experience-bird-migration-along-alabamas-coast/

A more refined, scientific treatise on this subject is available at:
http://www.int-ornith-union.org/files/proceedings/durban/Symposium/S33/S33.1.htm

Plus, here's a species-by-species map of wood-warbler migration tendencies:
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/birds/migration/migrant.html

Fab Five Warbler Photo Quiz (#7)

Warbler Guy, you have not presented a warbler photo quiz for a spell. Can you photos of warblers soon? Or may I quiz you with an email regarding photos of warblers I have but cannot identify?

OK, Louis (in Tampa), here's five wood-warbler species photos. Can you name them from top to bottom? Post your answers by clicking on the "Comment" text button, below. (Answer will appear here by April 15, 2014. Please check back after readers have a chance to see this post and vote.)

Answers To Recent Quizzes (on right column of this blog as you scroll down)

Here's correct answers to the latest quizzes that appear on the right column as you scroll down (from the most recent quiz to earlier ones):

1.

Which of the following species is not a member of the wood-warbler family?

Answer: Olive Warbler

2. 

Warblers eat the following:

Answer: All of the above: seeds, fruit, and insects

(though some species primarily eat ONLY insects during the breeding season and, then, after returning to "wintering" grounds may eat fruit in combination with insects (e.g., Cape May Warbler) )

3. 

What's the name of an app where diverse wood-warbler photos can be seen when you wish to examine how immature/first-year ones appear?

Answer: Both iBird Pro and Sibley Birds sometimes host immature/first-year photos for some wood-warbler species.

Warbler Guy, I heard about you overseas and I'm coming to the USA to find warblers in May. Which warbler field guide do you recommend?

Norman (in England)......There's two essential field guides:

1. The Warbler Guide, by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle, Princeton Univ. Press, 2013

It's an exquisite, comprehensive treatise that hosts a dizzying array of excellent features that will edify both beginning and advanced warbler watchers.

Beyond the typical features hosted in a field guide, The Warbler Guide format highlights new ways to identify species via clever comparison photos; close-ups of body parts not usually shown in field guides; information to age and sex individual birds; "quick ID" pages to reduce the steps to identify an unknown species; and much more.

You won't be disappointed in ordering this field guide that is easily obtained at amazon.com,
americanbirding.org, and several other online bookstores.

2. Warblers, by Kimball Garrett and Jon Dunn, Houghton Mifflin Publishing, 1997

As a complement to The Warbler Field Guide, Garrett and Dunn's field guide remains a masterpiece.

Although some information and map-related data is outdated and/or needs updating, this
amazing field guide remains one of the finest bird-specific publications ever created.

I'll write more about this guide soon.

For now, suffice to know: Buy this field guide....and, better, buy both of the aforementioned.

With these two publications, warbler enthusiasts are well endowed with the best bedtime reading they could imagine.

Warbler Guy, I know it's not recent news, but what happened with the most recent scientific warbler name changes?

Good question, Vinny.

Here's a Share And Tell courtesy of The Carolina Bird Club (https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/brc/aouchanges.html#aou54) whereby the 52nd Supplement,
July, 2011 to the AOU Checklist of Birds addresses your question and others related to the wood-warbler family:

There are major changes within the wood-warbler family (Parulidae), consisting of many reassignments of genus and a new linear sequence of genera and species.

• Genera Parula, Dendroica, and Wilsonia are deleted by being lumped with other genera. Parula and Dendroica are lumped into Setophaga. One species of Wilsonia (Hooded Warbler) is also lumped into Setophaga, and the other two species (Wilson's and Canada) are lumped into Cardellina (the genus of Red-faced Warbler).
• Kentucky, Mourning, and MacGillivray's Warblers are moved to genus Geothlypis (same as Common Yellowthroat) leaving only Connecticut in Oporornis.
• Although the genus Parula no longer exists, a provision of the Code of Zoological Nomenclature allows the family name to remain Parulidae.
• The new sequence of species, with new generic names, is:

  sequence	new scientific name	common name	former scientific name	former sequence
  1	Seiurus aurocapilla	Ovenbird	Seiurus aurocapilla	31
  2	Helmitheros vermivorum	Worm-eating Warbler	Helmitheros vermivorum	29
  3	Parkesia motacilla	Louisiana Waterthrush	Parkesia motacilla	33
  4	Parkesia noveboracensis	Northern Waterthrush	Parkesia noveboracensis	32
  5	Vermivora bachmanii	Bachman's Warbler	Vermivora bachmanii	1
  6	Vermivora chrysoptera	Golden-winged Warbler	Vermivora chrysoptera	3
  7	Vermivora cyanoptera	Blue-winged Warbler	Vermivora cyanoptera	2
  8	Mniotilta varia	Black-and-white Warbler	Mniotilta varia	26
  9	Protonotaria citrea	Prothonotary Warbler	Protonotaria citrea	28
  10	Limnothlypis swainsonii	Swainson's Warbler	Limnothlypis swainsonii	30
  11	Oreothlypis peregrina	Tennessee Warbler	Oreothlypis peregrina	4
  12	Oreothlypis celata	Orange-crowned Warbler	Oreothlypis celata	5
  13	Oreothlypis ruficapilla	Nashville Warbler	Oreothlypis ruficapilla	6
  14	Oporornis agilis	Connecticut Warbler	Oporornis agilis	35
  15	Geothlypis tolmiei	MacGillivray's Warbler	Oporornis tolmiei	37
  16	Geothlypis philadelphia	Mourning Warbler	Oporornis philadelphia	36
  17	Geothlypis formosa	Kentucky Warbler	Oporornis formosus	34
  18	Geothlypis trichas	Common Yellowthroat	Geothlypis trichas	38
  19	Setophaga citrina	Hooded Warbler	Wilsonia citrina	39
  20	Setophaga ruticilla	American Redstart	Setophaga ruticilla	27
  21	Setophaga kirtlandii	Kirtland's Warbler	Dendroica kirtlandii	20
  22	Setophaga tigrina	Cape May Warbler	Dendroica tigrina	11
  23	Setophaga cerulea	Cerulean Warbler	Dendroica cerulea	25
  24	Setophaga americana	Northern Parula	Parula americana	7
  25	Setophaga magnolia	Magnolia Warbler	Dendroica magnolia	10
  26	Setophaga castanea	Bay-breasted Warbler	Dendroica castanea	23
  27	Setophaga fusca	Blackburnian Warbler	Dendroica fusca	17
  28	Setophaga petechia	Yellow Warbler	Dendroica petechia	8
  29	Setophaga pensylvanica	Chestnut-sided Warbler	Dendroica pensylvanica	9
  30	Setophaga striata	Blackpoll Warbler	Dendroica striata	24
  31	Setophaga caerulescens	Black-throated Blue Warbler	Dendroica caerulescens	12
  32	Setophaga palmarum	Palm Warbler	Dendroica palmarum	22
  33	Setophaga pinus	Pine Warbler	Dendroica pinus	19
  34	Setophaga coronata	Yellow-rumped Warbler	Dendroica coronata	13
  35	Setophaga dominica	Yellow-throated Warbler	Dendroica dominica	18
  36	Setophaga discolor	Prairie Warbler	Dendroica discolor	21
  37	Setophaga nigrescens	Black-throated Gray Warbler	Dendroica nigrescens	14
  38	Setophaga townsendi	Townsend's Warbler	Dendroica townsendi	16
  39	Setophaga virens	Black-throated Green Warbler	Dendroica virens	15
  40	Cardellina canadensis	Canada Warbler	Wilsonia canadensis	41
  41	Cardellina pusilla	Wilson's Warbler	Wilsonia pusilla	40
  42	Icteria virens	Yellow-breasted Chat	Icteria virens	42