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I have a friend who has had bird feeders for years and is pretty familiar with most of the birds that visit their feeders. However, the other day I told her about the warblers that came through my garden and she asked me what exactly a warbler was. She had heard of warblers but never knowingly seen one at the feeder. But warblers are small and quick, and if you don’t know what to look for, your brain can match them with other little birds that are difficult to identify. Another reason my friend missed encountering warblers is that most warblers in the US and Canada (over 50 species breed here) don’t visit birdhouses.
Warblers are among the smallest birds in our forests and can be some of the most colorful. They are Neotropical migrants, which means that they winter in the New World (hence Neo-Tropics) tropics, which migrate to North America in the spring to reproduce. From maybe mid-April they started moving north to and through New England. Why come here Why leave mild Central and South America? Insects! It’s blackfly season! I also heard my first mosquitoes today. The lure of a protein-rich beetle diet necessary for raising young brings these insectivores north.
What is a warbler? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, warblers are “different species of small songbirds, predominantly belonging to the families Sylviidae, Parulidae, and Peucedramidae of the order Passeriformes. Warblers are small, active insectivores that can be found in gardens, forests, and swamps. “(According to the Cornell Lab’s Bird Academy Warbler course I’m taking, there are actually eight different families of birds named Warbler!). When we talk about warblers here in the US, we are referring to the world’s new warblers (also known as wood warblers). The wood warbler are more closely related to orioles, but were given the name warblers because of their physical and behavioral resemblance to the warblers of the ancient world.
While warblers come in a variety of colors and patterns, you can learn to recognize them by their overall shape: small with narrow insectivorous bills, short to medium tails, and as mentioned, they’re active foragers always on the lookout for their closest ones Enjoy the meal. If you’re ready to take the plunge, the next step is to identify some. This group is known to be difficult to identify. Because they are so active, looking good can be difficult. You need to prepare to look for a variety of features – color, wing bars, dark circles against eye lines, chest markings, or patterns on the tail. It is also helpful to be careful about where they are, as many have divided the available habitat into different food areas to avoid direct competition for food (this is known as resource sharing).
A famous example of resource sharing comes from a 1958 study by Robert MacArthur in which he described how five different northeastern warbler species divided their feeding ground with moonshine and Cape May warblers who preferred the canopy, while blackthroat greens – Warblers held onto the inner branches around the center.
Spring is the best time to look for warbles. Just like the spring wildflowers, which are welcome in season, the arrival of these tiny migrants in our forests heralds the warmer days. And if the bears haven’t forced you to take down your birdhouses, some might come over to examine the suet. We’ve dropped yellow-rumped warblers, blue-winged warblers, and palm warblers, and heard a lot more in the trees. While I am lamenting the arrival of black flies and mosquitoes, I am happy about it too. More bugs mean more warblers.
Susan Pike, environmental science and biology researcher and teacher at Dover High School, welcomes your ideas for future column topics. She can be reached at spike3116@gmail.com. Read more about her Nature News columns online at Seacoastonline.com and pikes-hikes.com and follow her on Instagram @pikeshikes.
