Warbler Tips ID Charts

Warbler Tips ID Chart

by Daniel Edelstein, edelstein@earthlink.net, 415-382-1827

Warbler Chart 1 (1 of 3; see below)

SCIENTIFIC NAME	Common Name	Spring Arrival Time	Fall Departure Time.		Confused With?	Breeding Habitat	Status	Comments
Dendroica petechia	Yellow	Early (among top 5 in East/Midwest)	July onward (early disperse after nesting)		Prothonotary	Deciduous bottom lands/creek bottoms; wet and/or or moist areas; dense vegetation	Decline in W. USA	43 subspecies is most among all 115 New World wood-warblers; many endemic subspecies; largest geographical breeding area of all 115 New World wood-warblers: northern S. America to Alaska.
D.pennsylvanica	Chestnut-sided	Neither early or late	More eastern USA; protracted  departure; occ. vagrant on W. Coast		Golden-winged, especially for 1st year males in fall	Deciduous; 2nd growth areas; absent from thick, dense, unbroken/unfragmented forest	Local declines in eastern USA where climax/dense forest has returned	Frequent B.H. Cowbird host; declines when mature forests return to an area; more rare during 1700s (when climax forests occurred) than now.
D.magnolia	Magnolia	Early to mid-early	Often early		Immature Prairie	Conif. forest; esp. spruce	Increases in New Engl.	“Spruce Warbler” would be apt name; it often nests in spruces
D.tigrina	Cape May	Not early, but not late arrival	Early		1st year, female Yellow-Rumped	Conif. forest; bogs	Fluctuate; cyclical	Arboreal; “fighter,” often defend. food sources (fruit/nect)
D.caerulescens	Black-Throated Blue	Never early	Late		Female with Orange-Crowned & Tennessee	Deciduous & mixed woods	On “Watch List”	Nests in decid. or mixed woods; Highly dimorphic (male-female)
D.virens	Black-Throated Green	Often early	Often late in Midwest/NE	Golden-cheeked; Town/Hermit hybrids		conifif/mixed woods	Varies yearly	Winters in second growth/edges, thus able to survive deforestat.
D.dominica	Yellow-throated	Very early, esp. in Mid-Atlantic	Early	Grace´s		Low. forest; Sp. moss imp	Expanding N and E?	Creeping foraging behavior is tell-tale clue; often up high
D.pinus	Pine	Early	Late		Fall Blackpoll, Bay-breasted	Pines, other conifs.	Stable in S. range (?)	Large, long-tailed, heavy-billed; dist. trill; among hardiest warbs.
D.kirtlandii	Kirtland´s	Not early	Late?		Palm & Prairie (tail bobs)	Jack pines in MI and ?	On Fed. End. Species List	Rare; cowbird management and habitat management important
D.discolor	Prairie	In FL by March with resident subsp.	Migrants in FL by mid-July		Male Pine; fall Magnolia; Palm (tail bobs)	Successional habitats	On “Watch List”	BBS data shows recent declines over most of range
D.castanea	Bay-breasted	Not early; mid-May arrival in Upper Midwest/Gr. Lakes	Long, extended		Fall Bay-breasted’s with Fall Blackpolls	Boreal forests	< when < mat. forests because < spruce budworms are present. On “Watch List”	Populations vary from year to year, depending on level of spruce budworm outbreak
D.striata	Blackpoll	Often late; occ. one of last sp. to arrive	More E. than spring migration		Fall with 1st fall Bay-breasted (especially females)	Wet conifers	Often abundant	Most highly-migratory wood warbler (2,150 miles autumn flight for east. USA migrators)
D.fusca	Blackburnian	No early	Rel. early, E.		1st fall female with Cerulean & immature female Townsend’s	Mixed forest; tall, mature conifers	Vulnerable due to hab. changes	Hemlocks often are nesting site; Usnea lichen often used in n. areas; spanish moss in s. USA
D.coronata	Yellow-rumped	Early; often the 1st sp. or over-winters	Late; some over-winter far north		1st fall female Cape May; vocalization & plumage distinct: Audubon subspecies vs. Myrtle subspecies	Conifers, mixed forests	BBS shows no trends	Myrtle Group has two subspp; Audubon Group variation is more detailed/complex; Other two endemic subspecies = Black-fronted in Mexico and Goldman’s in Guatemala
D.cerulea	Cerulean	Early	One of earliest		Females and 1st fall males look like 1st fall female Blackburnian	Old growth, mature deciduous forests	Numbers down; On “Watch List”	BBS suggests major drops in breeding bird populations.  Degradation of both winter. and summer habitats

Warbler Chart 2

SCIENTIFIC NAME	Common Name			Spring Arrival Time	Fall Departure Time.	Confused With?		Breeding Habitat	Status	Comments
Vermivora cyanoptera		Blue-winged	Early		Usually early	Hybrids/intergrades with Golden-winged (Brewster’s and Lawrence’s intergrades), in addition to Yellow, Prothonotary, Orange-Crowned (subspecies lutescens)	Wide variety successional: old pastures, woodland clearings, powerline openings & slashings		N, NE expansion; on “Watch List”	May mate w/ Golden-winged warbler; resulting shared field marks create Brewster’s or Lawrence’s” warbler
V.chrysoptera		Golden-winged	Typical Gulf Coast arrival is early April		Leaves  after Blue-winged	Hybrids/intergrades with Golden-winged (Brewster’s and Lawrence’s intergrades), and, if viewed from below, looks like the Black-throated Gray Warbler.	Successional habitats		On “Watch List”	BBS data indicates decline over most of its nesting range, (northeastern and southern USA) where long-term competition with Blue-winged Warbler results in this species eventually displacing some populations of Golden-winged.
Oreothylpisperegrina		Tennessee	Often late April arrival in upper Midwest		Often early within groups, sometimes in July south of its breeding range.	Orange-crowned	Boreal forests (needs brushy/mossy understory)		Population abundance often varies yearly, sometimes varying with spruce budworm output that is cyclical	Some females arrive on n. breeding grounds pregnant due to mating during migration. In non-breeding season habitat, favors nectar and fruit. One of the most frequent “eastern” warblers to appear in the West.
O.ruficapilla		Nashville	Early		Often early	Virginia’s, Orange-Crowned	Variety		Stable?	Two distinct subspecies; one in both E & W USA
O. celata		Orange-crowned	Early on W. Coast but often late April/eary May in Midwest		East (celata): often late, sometimes overwintering; West: lutescens subspecies may disperse by June	West Coast lutescens subspecies looks like Yellow, Wilson’s & Macgillivray’s. Celata and orestera subspecies are sometimes mistakenly ID’ed as Mourning & Macgillivray’s.	Varies by subspecies. Often nests in brushy areas, esp. deciduous thickets.		Common on West Coast, but uncommon in the East, though present here during non-breeding season	Breeding area for celata subspecies extends from Maritime provinces to n.w. Alaska. Four total subspecies in species. On East Coast Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs), subspecies celata is sometimes seen (i.e., celata migration is often late).
Parulaamericana		No. Parula	Very early		Prolonged	Nashville	Varies		Stable?	Breeds high in trees, often using lichens or Spanish moss as nesting material
Mniotiltavaria		Black-and-white	Early		Very early	Blackpoll	Mature & 2nd Growth		Regional declines; cowbird par	Creeping foraging is often diagnostic; glean trunks/branches for larvae/insects
Setophagaruticilla		American Redstart	Often late		Prolonged	Distinct apprearance	Wet decid, mixed for.		Fewer: pts of range	Tame/curious; squeaks/”pishes” attract this warbler that acts like may act like flycatcher
Protonotariacitrea		Prothonotary	Early		Very early exit	Yellow, Blue-winged	Bottom-land forests		Numbers down; On “Watch List”	Prefers dark, damp lowland woods, swamps; found in wet, shady areas; snags/stumps essential for nesting cavities; only E. USA cavity-nesting wood-warbler
Helmitherosvermivorus		Worm-eating	Not early		Early	Swain-son’s	Decid. or mixed woods		Numbers down; On “Watch List”	On migration, may feed higher in treetops than in breeding areas where it forages low, often in clusters of dead leaves; hops, doesn’t walk; usually uses ground for nest
Limnothlypisswainsonii		Swainson’s	On Gulf Coast by late March		Late for s. breed