On the Wing #16: Tricky Warbler ID and Other Delights About Fall Birding

After experiencing the high of finding so many warblers over the past few days, not finding anything this morning at Heard's Conservation Land was certainly disappointing, but it was made up for it by seeing a family of Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) I recognized from earlier in the summer. Even though I've only starting concentrating on warblers in the past two weeks or so, I've already run into some problems in regards to correctly identifying species (provided they don't give me "warbler neck" first or in my attempts to follow their flitting and twitching through the understory causes me to fall backwards down a hill I already had trouble climbing to begin with.) This also includes the usual issues with timing, weather, habitat choice, and of course, luck.

This past week or so, I've experienced the joy of mistaking Blackpoll Warblers (Setophaga striata) with everything else that possesses wingbars (a feature that still annoys me in regards to tracking a titch like a warbler or kinglet) and been relieved when I could put enough of the pieces together to identify two Black-throated Blue Warblers (Setophaga caerulescens) I'd seen at Nobscot Reservation yesterday morning. I've also been flipping through the many pages of the differing bird guides that I own for a taste of advice for finding those last few warblers that should be present at this time of year. As recently as last night, I was reading my copy of Chapman's "Birds of Eastern North America" and making note of what species would be leaving soon and what others would be arriving. Below I've made a list of arrival and departure times of birds that I would need to see in order to complete my goal for this year. While this is quite useful, I have to keep in mind that this book was published in 1895, so factors such as range expansion and contraction, as well as climate change may have changed these dates to be earlier or later than what was experienced 100 years ago. Even so, it's a starting point.


Example:
Rear-tailed Evader (Mostus absentus) (There would be dates here, but the species is just too elusive to contend with)

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher* (Empidonax flaviventris) (Aug 1-15 to Sep 20-30)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) (Aug 1-15 to Sep 30-Oct 10)
Canada Warbler* (Cardellina canadensis) (Aug 1-15 to Sep 20-30)
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) (Aug 15-31 to Sep 25-Oct 5)
Blackburnian Warbler* (Setophaga fusca) (Aug 15-31 to Sep 20-30)
Wilson's Warbler* (Cardellina pusilla) (Aug 15-31 to Sep 20-30)
Connecticut Warbler* (Oporornis agilis) (Sep 1-10 to Sep 20-30)
Philadelphia Vireo* (Vireo philadelphicus) (Sep 10-20 to Sep 20-30)
Swainson's Thrush* (Catharus ustulatus) (Sep 10-20 to Sep 20-30)

Bicknell's Thrush* (Catharus bicknelli) (Sep 10-20 to Sep 20-30)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) (Sep 20-30 to Oct 20-30)

Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus) (Sep 20-30 to Oct 15-25)

Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) (Oct 1-10 to Dec 1-30)

Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor) (Oct 20-31 to Mar 1-31)

The species that are starred are ones that if I made a strong effort to look for now, I'd probably locate most of them (especially the Wilson's or Connecticut Warbler. In fact in the last few days, one or two COWA have been seen in nearby Callahan State Park in Framingham.)

While useful, because it's more of a reference guide designed for close up examination as opposed to out in the trees and bushes where modern field guides come into play, I continue to swear by the Sibley eGuide to the Birds for those trickier IDs. ("Was that a Blackpoll just then or a Bay-breasted? Please, oh please be a Bay-breasted!") I've also been carrying around one of the older copies of Peteron's "A Guide to the Birds" in my backpack. I prefer this format because having a plate full of options allows you to pinpoint the details you've noted on your bird then and there. This is much better than having to scroll through name upon name to find something that sounds like what you might have seen and really would only be helpful if it accurately described something about the species in question.

Warblers in particular are guilty of this phenomena as are their namers and discoverers. Alexander Wilson wisely called the Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia), the "Black-and-Yellow Warbler" when he first found it, but it became Magnolia only because the first described specimen was found in a southern magnolia tree. Another example of horrible locational related namings are the Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) (prefers scrubby or semi open habitat with only a few small trees. The Florida subspecies prefers mangroves over prairies.), Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) (although the first specimens were observed in palms, they actually breed in boreal forests),  Connecticut Warbler (again with the specimens. This one breeds in Canada as well.), and Cape May Warbler (collected in Cape May and also breeds in Canada). Even back in the day when Audubon was running around, he had the misfortune of misidentifying immature warblers for new species!

An honest mistake or a damn dirty lie?

The example above was named Rathbone's Warbler (Sylvia rathbonia) after an engraver who helped to make Audubon's elephant folio work of the Birds of America. In my own copy of Birds of America, (with commentary by William Vogt) it describes how "it is not strange that Audubon should have misnamed some of the birds he portrayed. He worked virtually without bird books and, over long periods, without adequate collections of study skins with which he could compare his specimens. The modern ornithologist, with fine prism binoculars and manuals, trends a broad highway in comparison with the tortuous path of his predecessors." (Birds of America, pg 65)
I suppose misidentifying an immature form of Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) is one thing, but as long as I don't come up with a whopper like a Carbonated Warbler (Sylvia carbonata), I should be alright. Here, here for warblers and have a happy birding this week.

If I do see any of these though, that would make my day!