This spring is shall we say, a bit slow in the northeast? What is causing the significant delay in both the numbers of species and birds traveling through the eastern half of the nation, on their way to breeding grounds?
Spent two and a half frustrating hours this morning in Central Park, and while I did see some great birds, the number of both birds and species are considerably less than in previous years. What is here, and what isn't?
The earliest warbler species are thinning out, the pines and palms have started their trips further north. Expect palms to increase in numbers as they have one of the longest migration timetables, along with yellow-rumpeds and Louisiana waterthrushes. In a nominal year I'd have had at least 3 or 4 of these fish eating warblers by now, this year not one. There are two waterthrush species, the Louisiana and the northern; they look almost alike, with the "Louis" having a whitish throat, the northern more yellow. I guess they don't use enough bleach... These are certainly odd warblers, staying low to the ground, preferring streams and ponds to treetops. They are primarily insectivores, but they will also eat berries, small amphibians and even small fish! So how can these guys be considered "Wood-Warblers"?
There are some specific distinctions that make our parulidae unique. First they all are primarily insectivores, and have a needle-thin beak which help them to snag insects on the wing. Think of two sharp chop-sticks with slight serrations at the base to keep whatever they've latched on to in place. These are fast, accurate tools meant to grab, crush, and dissect insects very quickly.
Most warblers are migratory, except for those who live in the tropics. Most travel significant distances from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds. Most of them are very colorful- while not exactly "definitive" of a family of birds, this is a feature they all have in common (except for orange-crowned and Tennessee warblers, who are mostly gray and plain.) There are some warblers that might not fit the patterns- such as the olive warbler that will one day I'd imagine lose status as a warbler. And there is one species which I'll do later, the illusive and quite frankly insane yellow-breasted chat, a bird that is so totally different from all of the warblers its hard to imagine its inclusion, except for the fact that DNA shows they really do belong.
So we have the two waterthrushes (even their names fail to suggest "warbler" and their close cousin the ovenbird, named after the dutch-oven shaped nests they build. These little guys are very common, and their loud "teacher-teacher-teacher" call can be heard in almost every large tract of forest (more than 3 or 4 acres) throughout the US.
Then there are the 20 or so Dendroica species (hence the "D" in my username, Dcoronata or yellow-rumped warbler) which are among the most colorful birds on the planet. Almost all of them are sexually dimorphic, which means da boys look different than da girls. Perhaps the greatest case of all is the stunningly beautiful black-throated blue (which should be here by now!) The males are mostly black and blue birds, with a bit of white on the belly and their "handkerchiefs". The females look like a cross between the pine and palm, or maybe even the common yellowthroat (they'll get their own diary as well, in a couple of weeks) except they share that diagnostic handkerchief, the best way to tell that they are related to the males.
Then you've got the summer warblers (oporonis, 4 species) named due to their late appearance in the spring. And the vermivora, who have an appetite for caterpillars; they have nearly 10 species, and are closely related to the three Wilsonia warblers. Then you've got several smaller families with one or two species, including the black-and-white (I hope to include some photos of these guys later) the American redstart, the northern parula... all grouped together, closely aligned to the parus (titmice and chickadees) and the tanagers/orioles. All new-world birds, and mostly insectivores.
Now until I get some new pictures to show, I'm going to add a few old ones, to kind of give you an idea of who I'm not seeing!
This is a young blackburnian warbler, perhaps the most beautiful of them all. If this was a male in mating plumage, the bright orange of his throat (they are often called "flamethroats" would melt your display. The problem with these guys is, they aren't that tame, and spend the vast majority of their time at the very tops of the trees. I caught this one in Maine, on the aptly names "Phoebe's Way" in Indian Point. These birds aren't that common, with luck I'll see 5 a year. In a good year...
This is a partially obscured magnolia warbler. They usually arrive in the first few days of May, and are relatively common (let me put this in my terms- I see about 25 of these guys a year, after spending literally 500 or more hours birdwatching. That's my idea of "relatively common.")
This little girl is the most widespread warbler in NA, the yellow warbler. You'll find them almost everywhere in the US and Canada, in nice numbers (not as many as yellow-rumpeds, but close.) They can be very tame, they are one of only two or three species that nests in NYC proper and in a good year I'll see enough of them to feed a small army. (100+) That's not to say that I'm going to ignore even a single one of these guys, they are so charming and fun to watch that I even go out of my way to check their nests in the first two weeks of June. In a good year, I've seen over 50 chicks in Jamaica Bay; last year, I only saw 12. Considering how many I must surely miss, that's got to be at least 25-50 in a 500 acre area, and I can't get into some of the interior part that they really like to nest in.
Now, for what I did see: At least 12 ruby crowned kinglets. These tame little buggers are doing better in recent years, both they and their cousin the golden-crowned kinglets are one of the few species that seem to be going up in population. Hermit thrushes- perhaps the most beautiful voice in all of NA, there were at least 5 today at the park. I've been seeing them for almost a month now, their numbers are okay, not as high as in the past. Had the usual yellow-rumped warblers, but not near enough. Good numbers on downy woodpeckers and flickers. And four really good (and common) waterfowl, the black-crowned night heron, snowy egret, blue-winged teal (one of the tamest I've ever seen) and the everpresent double-crested cormorant.