Warbler Guy, It's "spring" in my mind, so which warbler species might I see, please? (PLEASE! Too long a winter for me!)

I feel your "pain," Sandee (in Albany, NY).

At your end of the USA, look for Yellow-rumped Warbler (and, perhaps, Palm Warbler) as the most likely species to see now or in early spring.

On the West Coast where I live and conduct San Francisco Bay Area birding tours, initial returning warblers are most likely to be Orange-crowned Warbler individuals (though a few hang around all "winter"). 

The largest pulse of incoming Orange-crowned in Marin County where I live appear by March, with other wood-warbler species arriving this month or in April, including:

(below, male Hermit Warbler)

- Hermit

- Black-throated Gray

- Wilson's

- Yellow-breasted Chat

- Yellow-rumped

Feel free to ask me more questions at:

danieledelstein@att.net

warblerwatch.com

features "California Bird Arrival Times" for returning migrants at my web site's "Birding Links" area.

Enjoy the birds, Daniel

Warbler Guy, are any birds back yet on migration where you lead birding trips? (I think you live in the SF Bay Area, right?)

Yes, Mary (in LA), our first, true returning migrant is the Allen's Hummingbird.

First reports of it appearing here were on 1/16/16 in Occidental where Mike Heffernan noticed a male at his feeders.



(male Allen's Hummingbird, above)

He posted his sighting on the North Bay Birds listserv that you can access at sialia.com

I've seen two other reports since that date, but, by now, a major pulse has occurred -- so this common coastal breeding hummingbird is now in plenitude throughout central and northern California.

Have you seen any in the LA area, Mary?

WHY am I writing about hummers on a warbler blog? Because you must know I enjoy ALL birds among our 10,200 or so species worldwide....and NOT just the 56 annually seen wood-warblers in the United States area and 114 wood-warblers in the New World within the Parulidae/wood-warbler family (!)

Enjoy the weekend, Daniel
warblerwatch.com

Warbler Guy (Daniel), was that you being interviewed on Earth News Journal (about birding by ear)?

Yes, Cam, I confess the oral crime:

You can hear the real deal and my schpiel about "why and how" to ID birds by ear....and one of my "Top Ten 10 Tips For IDing Birds By Ear" at:

http://earthnewsjournal.com/birding-by-ear/

Warbler Guy, which warbler app exists for me to buy (if any)?

Excellent idea, Joannie.

I suggest you purchase the fine wood-warbler-centric app that corresponds to The Warbler Guide:

It's found at the iTunes Store.

Buying the book is also a good idea, if you wish a nice resource to complement the classic Warbler field guide in the Peterson Guide Series (Peterson Guide To Warblers, Jon Dunn & Kimball Garrett, 1997, Houghton Mifflin).

Warbler Guy, one of my New Year's resolutions is to learn warblers better. How so?

Warbler Tips Identification Chart

One idea, Jenni (in Cincinnati):

How about trying my Warbler Tips Identification Chart that is at my web site (warblerwatch.com) via you pasting this # into your browser:

http://warblerwatch.com/birding-links/warbler-tips-id-charts/

There's other free, printer-friendly birding information and ID help at my web site's "Birding Links" area, if you also wish to peruse it (?)

Or feel free to float me another questions here.

We aim to please.

Regards and happy new year, Daniel Edelstein

Avian Biologist

&

Certified Wildlife Biologist Associate

Leading birding tours since 1985

warblerwatch.com

Warbler Guy, was 2015 a successful breeding season in Wisconsin for the endangered Kirtland's Warbler? Where does the Kirtland's Warbler breed in WI?

Jerry, there's a wonderful news release at the following web site link (next paragraph) that highlights the successful breeding of Kirtland's Warbler during the past 2015 nesting season in Wisconsin.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/kirtland-s-warbler-has-its-most-successful-wisconsin-breeding-season/article_71e182d2-d743-5964-9d5c-081197fc8c98.html

Wow, time migrates quickly, given:

It's amazing for eight straight breeding seasons the federally endangered Kirtland's Warbler how bred successfully in the Badger State.

Of course, the largest number of newborn Kirtland's occur annually in Michigan (more than 1,000 males are present annually in Michigan during the breeding season).

There's also one ongoing, annual Kirkland's nesting site in Ontario (see graphic/figure, below).

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