Thursday, November 12, 2026

Warbler Guy, which wood-warblers are present in the Eastern USA during the non-breeding season? In the West?

 Greg (in Baltimore), I could provide you details, yet definitely not better than the following fine article at Nemesis Bird that provides an explanation of "winter" warbler abundance for the East:

http://www.nemesisbird.com/birding/rarities/winter-warblers/

As for the West, say, in northern California where I live (as a Birding Guide in the SF Bay area), the most typical warbler species to see (from most common to rarest in the order shown below) include:

- Yellow-rumped (both Myrtle and Audubon's subspecies occur in diverse habitats in great abundance, though Audubon's far outnumber the former);
- Common Yellowthroat (considered a resident throughout parts of n. CA, including the SF Bay Area) (male, immediately below and female below the male);

- Orange-crowned (although most depart annually be each autumn, a small number remain throughout the non-breeding season before they are again joined by returning migrants in February/March; not the Leiothlypis celeta sordida subspecies may be detected during the non-breeding season in n. CA...but it is joined beginning in February annually by the typical breeding subspecies (Leiothlypis celeta lutescens).
- Hermit (rare to uncommon during the non-breeding season)
- Palm (rare to absent during the non-breeding season, though often seen during the fall migration window....considered a vagrant sighting by many birders who observe this species in n. CA);
- Wilson's (even less common to detect during the non-breeding season than Orange-crowned and Hermit);
- Nashville (a few occur during the non-breeding season, but it's typically rare to absent)
- Black-throated Grey (rare to absent during the non-breeding season); and
- Yellow (although this species is common to see as a fall migrant throughout most of SF Bay area counties, it is usually rare to absent by November - March in this region).

Regards, Daniel Edelstein, WarblerWatch.com
DanielEdelstein at att dot com

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