BIRD OF THE MONTH: WARBLERS

Warblers are small, insect-eating song birds that typically have a warbling song. Although they do not frequent bird feeders, they may be attracted to moving water. Read on to learn some interesting information and fun facts about warblers that may be seen in our area during the summer.

Yellow Warbler
The Yellow Warbler's brilliant plumage helps to easily identify it. During the summer, males sing their sweet song from willows, wet thickets and roadsides across almost all of North America. Several other resident forms can be found in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Males in these populations may have chestnut caps or the entire head may be chestnut colored.

Townsend's Warbler
A bird of the Pacific Northwest, the Townsend's Warbler nests in coniferous forests from Alaska to Oregon. It winters in a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast and in Mexico and Central America. On the wintering ground in Mexico, the Townsend's Warbler feeds extensively on the sugary excretions of scale insects. It will defend territories around trees infested with the insects against other Townsend's Warblers as well as other bird species.

Wilson's Warbler
A common warbler of willow thickets in the West and across Canada, the Wilson's Warbler is easily identified by its yellow underparts and black cap. It is the only migrant warbler found in tropical high plains. The Pacific coast populations have the brightest yellow foreheads and faces.

Common Yellowthroat
A broad black mask lends a touch of mystique to the male Common Yellowthroat. Look for these furtive yellow-and-olive warblers skulking through tangled vegetation, often at the edges of marshes and wetlands. Listen for the witchety-witchety-witchety songs of these very vocal birds. The Common Yellowthroat is one of the most numerous warblers and was one of the first bird species to be catalogued from the New World when a specimen from Maryland was described in 1766. Common Yellowthroats sometimes fall prey to Merlins and Loggerhead Shrikes. The oldest Common Yellowthroat on record was 11 years, 6 months old.

MacGillivray's Warbler
A beautiful bird found at forest edges and in thickets, MacGillivray's Warlber breeds across much of the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountains. They nest from near sea level to as high as 9,842 feet in elevation. MacGillivray's Warbler was named by John James Audubon for his friend and editor, Dr. W. MacGillivray.

Black-throated Gray Warbler
A small but striking warbler of the American west, the Black-throated Gray Warbler is found in pine and mixed oak-pine forests west of the Rocky Mountains. The Black-throated Gray Warbler is considered a short-distance migrant, moving from its breeding areas in the western United States only as far south as Mexico.

Orange-crowned Warbler
A small, rather drab warbler of shrubs and low vegetation, the Orange-crowned Warbler is common and widespread in the West but is much less common in most of the East. The Orange-crowned Warbler is divided into four subspecies with the Pacific Coast form being the brightest yellow. The boreal-nesting form of the Orange-crowned Warbler has one of the latest fall migrations of any warbler, not leaving its Canadian breeding grounds until late September or October.

All information courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology