Warbler Guy, I saw your San Francisco birding tours note you have seen nesting warblers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco Bay Area has warblers nesting here?

Horatio (in Sunnyvale, CA):

Yes, depending on your perch in the SF Bay Area, there's both resident, year-round wood-warbler species as well as neotropical migrants that return annually to nest here.

The following list, below, is a simplified, non-detailed overview of the nesters in Marin County without providing details:

(Note the * = nester as a spring/summer resident and # = a year-round nester that is resident year-round. In addition, it's important to realize that a few individuals of all wood-warblers in the Bay Area may persist throughout the non-breeding season (though the vast bulk of the * species vacate the Bay Area during the non-breeding season. + = non-breeding season resident only).

* and # Common Yellowthroat (with much of the area hosting two subspecies, including the CA Species of Special concern sinuosa subspecies)

* Yellow Warbler

* Orange-crowned Warbler (Note this species persists in small numbers throughout the "winter," but the large pulse of returning nesters begins in February and peaks in March.)

* Wilson's Warbler

* Yellow-rumped Warbler (ALSO note: LARGE numbers present during the non-breeding season at low elevations, but most of the nesters occur at higher altitudes in select Bay Area locations only.)

* Hermit Warbler

* Black-throated Gray Warbler

* Yellow-breasted Chat (extirpated from portions of its previous breeding range)

* MacGillivray's Warbler

+ Townsend's Warbler 

Regards to you Horatio and all warbler seekers of this special family....Daniel

warblerwatch.com (hosts my bird guiding and birding tour information via the "Birding Tours" section)

415-382-1827, Novato, CA

Warbler Guy, I saw a nectar-drinking warbler at my feeder? Which warblers drink nectar? Warblers act like hummingbirds?

"Yes," Stevie (in Orlando):

Although it sounds strange, a few warbler species visit hummingbird feeders, including
Orange-crowned, Nashville, Virginia, Yellow, Black-throated Green, Prothonotary, and Cape May.

(Above, Orange-crowned Warbler feeding at a hummingbird feeder)

The initial above three species tend to have longer bills that are adapted to successfully obtain
the sweet elixir (that provides them supplementary carbohydrates beyond the protein-rich insects they seek).

Cape May, by the way, even gobbles jelly birders serve to tanagers and orioles in their yards — so be on the watch for warblers at your bird feeders, folks.

Or simply grab your binoculars and enjoy a walk down your favorite trail.

Look for our fine-colored feathered friends that winging their way north, with the imminent return of several likely in the southeast, Mid-atlantic, and, yes, even the upper Midwest where a few anomalous Yellow-rumped Warblers are already present (as over-wintering individuals or early returning migrants by the end of March/early April).

Happy birding to you, Daniel

warblerwatch.com {features several free birding information handouts (including some excellent articles by David Sibley) via my "Birding Links" area and information about my 25+ years of birding tours and bird guiding services (via my "Birding Tours" area)}

Warbler Guy, you teach classes at Merritt College, I see (with a Google search)...correct?

Yes, Aundra, and thanks for the plug.

Here's a "copy and paste" from my Daniel's Merritt College Classes blog about my upcoming 2016 class:

Raptors Of The Bay Area: September 8 - early November, 2016 (1 lecture & 6 all-day field trips)

SOON AT A (MERRITT) COLLEGE NEAR YOU: (merritt.edu) (September, 2016)

Raptors Of The Bay Area And Central CA (see p. 124 at the college’s catalog for BIO 80A; this class begins 9/8/16 as a slide show/lecture introduction, then six all-day Saturday field trips occur in Sept., Oct., and Nov., 2016; register at merritt.edu beginning in April or May, 2016).

(below, 2nd or 3rd year sub-adult Golden Eagle)

Details For This Two-Month Class (One slide show/lecture; six all-day field trips):

- Thursday, 9/8/16: 7 pm - 9:50 pm slide show features 19 SF Bay Area raptors we may see during our six all-day September, October, and November, 2016 field trips;

- Five all-day Saturday field trips: 9/10, 9/24, 10/1, 10/8, 10/22, and 11/5/16
(e.g., Hawk Hill in Sausalito, Scaggs Island (off Highway 37), Altamont area (Golden Eagle breeding "epicenter"/activity center), etc.)

Focus Of Class/Purpose: 

We'll explore: a) the ecology/life cycle of raptors; b) migration; c) identification tips for the 19 potential species that either nest or migrate through the SF Bay Area annually.

About The Instructor:

A Merritt College ornithology instructor since 2003 — and a leader of birding outings since 1984 — Daniel (M.S., Natural Resources) is a freelance Certified Wildlife Biologist Associate. He regularly conducts bird surveys for common and rare species and possesses five survey permits. His popular website highlights northern California birds (see "Birding Links" area) at warblerwatch.com (His eight-year-old wood-warbler blog hosts articles, quizzes, and photos at http://warblerwatch.blogspot.com)
Questions? Please let me know at danieedelstein@att.net
warblerwatch.com

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).