Warblers: The Family Jewels
(This
998th Buffalo Sunday News column was
first published on May 9, 2010.)
Cape May
Warbler
photo by Jim Berry, Director,
Roger Tory Peterson
Institute
Once
when I was a beginning birder I accompanied senior ornithologist Howard Miller
on an early morning visit to Highland Park in Rochester. That park is
nationally known for its lilacs and thousands throng the park's gardens when
the bushes are in full blossom. We were earlier in the season, however, before
the flowers had matured, so we were alone on that hillside.
Nevertheless,
that morning we found the lilacs festooned with ornaments: tiny, bright jewels
strikingly painted with yellow, black, chestnut and even blue, orange and red.
Each lilac sported a half dozen or so of those small birds. I'm sure we
recorded over a hundred individuals. The birds were busy picking insects from
the bushes and paid us little heed. This allowed us wonderful, close-up views.
They
were all warblers, truly the jewels of the world of birds. They are members of
the family Parulidae.
Each year thirty or more species are recorded here during spring and fall
migration as most of them pass through on their way to and from the forests of
the north. Only a few species remain to nest in the immediate Buffalo area, but
others reside in the higher country of the Southern Tier.
Although
some warblers appear in late April, May is their month. They don't usually arrive
all at once. The precursors are the yellow-rumped
warblers that join golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets as shadbushes and
orchard trees begin to blossom. Variously marked with grays and browns, the yellow-rumps
are best identified by their shoulder, top-knot and
rump patches of yellow. By early May substantial flocks of these birds appear
and our parklands and even suburban yards ring with their buzzy
songs and their "check" call notes.
Among
the yellow-rumps are a few palm warblers, chestnut-crowned birds easily picked
out by their habit of bobbing their tails. Although these are not as striking
as some of their companions, they are my favorites among this family.
One
other early species we rarely see. It is the Louisiana water-thrush.
These birds return to the higher country of the Southern Tier where they nest
in the walls of the gullies formed by spring-fed streams usually near
waterfalls.
But
now it's mid-May and the other dozens of warbler species arrive. The most
common is an all yellow bird, appropriately named the yellow warbler. The
breasts of males are also lightly streaked with orange. This species will
remain as our common resident but, once they have paired off to nest, they well
be less evident. Their loud call, "chip chip chippa chippa
chip" resounds through our orchards and early succession fields. Most
suburban streets will support at least one nesting pair but you will have to
look hard to find them.
The
dominant color of the warbler family is yellow, but there are striking
exceptions. Two lovely blue birds are found here: the black-throated blue
warbler, quite common during migration, and the cerulean warbler, a rarer, in
fact endangered, warbler that is most often found locally in the Iroquois
National Wildlife Refuge where it also nests.
And
there is one striking mostly black warbler with orange patches on its wings and
tail. This is the American redstart.
Not
all the warblers sport bright colors from that artist's palette. Two species in
particular are simply striped with black and white: these are the
black-and-white and blackpoll warblers. Despite their lack of pigment, they are
handsome birds.
The
mix of species becomes overwhelming to beginners. I recall a young friend
trying to record new ones being shown him. He didn't understand one name and
asked, "Black-throated grebe?" No, he was told, "Black-throated
green."
Now
you may need a bird book to differentiate species: the blackburnian
warbler with bright orange on its head and throat; the Nashville warbler's white
eye-ring; the black mask of the marsh-dwelling common yellow-throat; the black
top-knot of the Wilson's warbler; the vest-like markings of the chestnut-sided
and bay-breasted warblers; the various necklaces of the Northern parula and the cerulean, magnolia and Canada warblers.
Then
you have to learn the songs that separate these species. Birders spend weeks
preparing by listening to tapes before these lovely birds arrive to brighten
their lives.-- Gerry Rising
Added note: The Roger Tory Peterson Institute 2nd Annual Birding
Festival will be held June 10-13 at the Institute. The theme will be
"Warblers of the Allegany Plateau". For more information about the
festival program and field trips, see