Thumb's Up: New Book "How To Become A Better Birder". . .

. . . will also help you become a better wood-warbler watcher....It's at amazon.com
and other online retailers.

(Derek Lovitch, Princeton University Press, 2012)

Answers To Recent Quizzes (on right side of page)....

.....and from top to bottom as you scroll down, here's the solutions to the quizzes (on the right side of the page):

1. In a general sense, the correct answer is "all of the above."

But any one of the three species could qualify as the latest arrival, depending on the year and where you see either Blackpoll, Conn. Warbler, or Canada Warbler in the spring.

Most important, note that typical annual returning times for songbirds (including wood-warblers such as those noted in the quiz) may vary from one year to the next. Predicting the abundance of night-time migrants has improved with the usage of radar technology, but knowing when warbler species arrive is an imprecise science.

Beyond spring arrival dates changing from one year to the next, vagaries associated with weather, wind direction (among other factors that vary from year to year during the migration season), always influence the timing of returning migrating songbirds. (To further qualify: note that Midwestern vs. East Coast wood-warbler species spring migration pathways and arrivals often vary, with fall migration offering a different set of migration and abundance dynamics for some warbler spp. in both of these areas.)

We merely know general spring returning dates that usually range from two to three weeks in length for most of the 30 to 35 long-distance warbler migrants (among the approximately 55 wood-warblers that nest in North America.

Given the above information as a general over-simplification, all the quiz birds — Blackpoll, Canada Warbler, and Connecticut Warbler — during most years are latter returning species.

In the most extreme and exceptional cases, Blackpoll and Connecticut may not return until early

June in areas where in other years they may be spotted as early as the first or second week of May (e.g., southern Wisconsin latitudes). As for Canada Warbler, it's usually not considered as late a returning migrant as Blackpoll and Connecticut Warbler, though there's always an odd spring when anomalous results occur for migration dynamics.

For example, this season, I noticed during my annual spring trek to Wisconsin that early vanguard species — such as Palm and Yellow-rumped — mixed together with latter arriving species in the migration parade — Blackpoll, Connecticut, and Canada. In fact, Blackpoll was reported in early May in Wisconsin alongside Yellow-rumped Warbler individuals. Later in the month (from May 10 - 18 when I was present in Wisconsin), I noticed the same two species together where they don't breed and were obviously transients.

So, in sum, this year's warbler migration produced an odd result, given no true early and latter migrant species conclusions could be suggested. 

2. Easy one. Yellow-rumped Warbler are one of the most typical wood-warblers to be seen in northern climes during the non-breeding season. In recent years, it's not unusual to note them on Christmas Bird Counts in upper Midwest and mid-Atlantic and/or southern New England states. Some hardy Yellow-rumped individuals may remain into January and, perhaps, throughout the winter from mid-Atlantic states west toward the Midwest.

Which other wood-warbler species might rarely to infrequently be seen in northern climes during the non-breeding season? Common Yellowthroat, Pine Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Palm Warbler are the other leading species of interest when an "odd-ball" warbler is seen upon a winter landscape. 

Does Connecticut Warbler return by late May? Is Connecticut Warbler rare?

Although Connecticut Warbler is not rare, its habit of being a stealthy, skulking, "shy" species results it in being heard more often than seen. In addition, it breeds in habitats that are often inaccessible to birders, including spruce-tamarack bogs and muskeg (as well as poplar woodlands and moist deciduous forests) in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and central Canada. Individuals return as early as early May to, for example, southern Wisconsin, but it's been known to arrive as late as early June in irregular years. In general, as returning migrant, this species is considered a "late" arriving member of the wood-warbler family. Did you know this warbler was not described until Alexander Wilson did so in 1812? A nest for this species was not discovered until 1883, more than 70 years after Wilson's description. Even today, there are few to no rigorous, experimental studies of its general biology from the breeding or wintering ranges.

Warbler Guy, how shall I best find Kirtland's Warblers? May I take a Kirtland's Warbler tour? Tours to find Kirtland's Warblers cost?

Yes (Edith in E. Lansing), you can take a guided tour to find Kirtland's Warbler this spring and summer.

See: https://www.michiganaudubon.org/kirtlands-warbler-tours/

Here, you'll read details about how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Michigan Audubon Society will jointly conduct guided tours from May 15 through July 4, departing from the Ramada Inn in Grayling, Michigan. You'll need to visit the front desk upon your arrival for the meeting location. The tours will be offered on weekdays at 7:00 a.m. and on weekends and holidays at 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Tours are free of charge.

Warbler Guy, is Pine Warbler among the early warbler migrant returnees? What other early migration warbler arrivals should we expect?

Yes, June: Given Pine Warbler occurs year-round in the southeastern USA, it often
returns early to Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern areas — this year in early April.

In more general terms, immediately north of their year-round range, breeders may appear by late February (with a larger pulse arriving during March). In the southern Great Lakes area, a mid-April arrival is typical (though in early April, 2012, individuals were already reported, for example, in Wisconsin).

According to the Birds of North American Online account for this species, breeders in Ohio first arrive by mid-March, then become common by late March and early April.

New Jersey hosts returning Pine Warblers by early March with larger numbers present later in the month. Spring migration in Connecticut is later, with April a standard arrival date and early May.

Most Pine Warblers arrive in Masschusetts from mid-April to early May. Quebec arrivals can usually be expected by the last portion of April.

As for other early returning warbler species to breeding grounds, they include Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Nashville Warbler — though annual variation occurs, of course.

Warbler Guy, is the Connecticut Warbler a late returning migrant? Where does it breed? Where does it spend the non-breeding season?

Joey (in Palo Alto, CA), the nearby graphic shows the migration route and breeding/non-breeding ranges of this warbler.

Often difficult for birders to detect, the Connecticut Warbler’s life cycle is poorly known in comparison to most of North America’s other warblers.

For example, it was nearly 70 years between the time of this bird’s discovery and the first description of its nest in 1883.

We do know it tends to prefer brushy margins of open woods, especially wet areas such as the edges of spruce bogs and meadows. Similar habitat quality is often utilized during the non-breeding season. Estimates suggest 92 percent of the world’s population breeds in love-elevation boreal forest in North America.

Does the Connecticut Warbler primarily eat insects similar to most other warblers? Yes, but it may also eat seeds and berries, especially during the non-breeding season.

As for migration, the Connecticut Warbler flies in a migration route similar to the Blackpoll Warbler: an elliptical pathway that spans disjunct areas in spring and fall. In many years, the Connecticut leaves its breeding grounds by mid-August, with latter departing individuals gone late September in the West to early October in the South. The bulk of population flies east to southeastern New England, then moves south along the Atlantic coast to Florida and, eventually, to South America.

Researchers believe the non-breeding range lies nearly entirely within western Amazon Basin. In spring, northward migration begins late, with most individuals flying through the West Indies before arriving in Florida. Subsequently, many individuals fly northwest through the Mississippi Valley, arriving on the breeding grounds in mid-to late May (though tardy individuals sometimes arrive as late as early to mid-June).

Is identification of warbler migration night calls possible? How do we ID warblers from their night migration calls?

Yes, based on the amazing recent work of researchers at Cornell Lab’s Conservation Science program.

They've developed the so-called "Rosetta Stone" or magic potion that utilizes spectrograms to identify nocturnal (night) migrrants.

These spectrograms (adjacent graphic) are a visual representation of the very brief flight calls made by North American warblers during their nocturnal migrations. Some of these call notes sound almost identical to our ears, but spectrograms show minute differences between them. Scientists can compare spectrograms of night recordings to spectrograms of known species to identify nocturnal migrants in total darkness.

(* = Andrew Farnsworth, a scientist in the Cornell Lab’s Conservation Science program, developed this “Rosetta Stone” in 2006 in collaboration with Michael Lanzone, Cellular Tracking Technologies, William R. Evans, and Michael O'Brien.)

The spectrograms correspond to all 48 warbler species of the U.S. and Canada (including Grace’s and Red-faced warblers, not shown), and is a major tool in the Lab's Acoustic Monitoring Project.