Warblers!!

[M.T. Bucket]

Been reading lots about the finches, orioles, bluebirds, ducks, and tanagers around here, but the REAL story up north around this time are the WARBLERS! They usually show here in big waves, but this year it's been spotty.

So far I've seen or heard these warblers:

Wilson's Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Parula

Tennessee Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

American Redstart

Ovenbird

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Pine Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

I still have not found these old friends this year (though I hope to find several of them this week):

Golden-winged Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Palm Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Northern Waterthrush

Connecticut Warbler

Mourning Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Canada Warbler

Here are a couple of Minnesota warblers I hope to see for the first time EVER:

Blue-winged Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Anyone else seeing any warblers? Anyone coaxing them to a feeder? (During cold springs, Cape May Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers have fed from jelly and grape slices in my yard.)

(Buzz, this is your cue to post photos of some unusual warbler, maybe a Kirtland's, jubilantly eating tiny kiwi cubes from a dish outside your window.)

[fishface5]

I love those little twiters. Yellow rumps are the most common I see, but I think they will be movein' on soon. Where do they nest/spend the summers at? I've also seen American Redstarts, Yellows, Tennesees'(I think), Magnolias, Chestnut sided, and Black and white. I was up in the BWCA acouple of years ago and saw and heard some I didn't ID, but I know I'd never seen or heard them before.

[jonny_redhorse]

holy moly!...never knew that many warblers existed on this ball in space! ......................

[buzzsaw]

Quote:

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(Buzz, this is your cue to post photos of some unusual warbler, maybe a Kirtland's, jubilantly eating tiny kiwi cubes from a dish outside your window.)

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My chances look very slim to say the least M.T..... I am as curious as Dotch about what you have that person in your avatar doing to that poor defenseless tree?

The Kirtland’s Warbler, a federally listed endangered species, is one of the world’s rarest birds. Weighing in at roughly one-half ounce, their total aggregate weight is just over 40 pounds! Its only consistent breeding grounds is the dense jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forests in Michigan's Lower Peninsula in an area 100 miles long and 60 miles wide within the Au Sable River drainage area. These birds were known as the "bird of fire" because intense heat is needed to open the jack pine cone and release the seeds. The Kirtland’s numbers plummeted when there were fewer fires causing their desired nesting areas to decline accordingly.

[Dotch]

The foliage the warblers love to hide in in our yard (plum and sumac) has been a little slow developing due to the previously cool, damp weather. They tend to be rather secretive little buggers. That and the time to look for them the past couple days has been limited. Usually see a batch of common yellowthroats move through pretty soon. If it rains, we'll have to sneak home & check. Also, if I see anyone fooling around with my trees, I'm calling the cops!

[fishface5]

Trees need love too.

[MedicDan]

They found a couple black throated in Duluth on the 22nd.

[MedicDan]

I might head up there this weekend possibly.

[M.T. Bucket]

Johnny,

There are 116 species of warblers worldwide, 53 known to occur in North America. Now there's a HOLY MOLY!

BTW, there are over 325 different hummingbirds, ranging from the size of a bee to nearly the size of a robin.

[M.T. Bucket]

Quote:

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Also, if I see anyone fooling around with my trees, I'm calling the cops!

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Alright, you asked for a bad joke...

Two trees are growing in the woods with a sapling growing between them.

The first tree asks the other,

"Hey, is that a son of a birch, or a son of a beech?"

The second tree replies,

"I don't know, but here comes a woodpecker, we can ask him."

So they ask the woodpecker,

"Mr.Woodpecker, you're an expert on trees, is that a son of a birch or a son of a beech?"

The woodpecker flies down and tastes a little sap and flies back.

He says "Gentlemen, that is neither a son of a birch nor a son of a beech, that is the finest piece of ash I've ever had my pecker in.

[fishface5]

[jonny_redhorse]

i need to get a bird species book(i have a few books for the wild flowers and native species of northern minnesota but not birds.........yet! )......the birds i'm familiar with are the ones i've seen for years...but since i've purchased my digital camera (it's opened a new world for me)it certainly has been a factor in enjoyment of the bird world......not only can i see em...i can't catch them on a pic...and you guys on this forum certainly are a great help with this new bird identification that i'm taking an interest in... ..thanks for the info MT and all!

[Steve Foss]

Hey Johnny:

Just weighing in on field guide choices, since you were talking about getting one. If you haven't already, take a look at the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. I spent my growing-up birding time on the Golden Guide and Peterson Field Guides, but when this one came out I retired my Petersons for good. This one is a bit bigger, but small enough to take in the field convieniently.

If you aren't birding out in the field but do most of it at home, the more expensive and somewhat larger Sibley's guide is the BMW of birding guides. It's the one that stays in the car when I'm out in the woods in case I have a question about bird ID. If you're near a good library and want to check them out before you buy in order to compare, that's handy, too.

Of course, you may have already bought one, and all the ones mentioned do a good job (I don't favor the guides with photos of each species, because colored drawings do a better job showing the field marks.

Most important thing is you're having fun with it.