Monday, January 20, 2020

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)}

Thursday, January 2, 2020

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