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WARBLERS
First we'll bore you to tears with some warbler talk, and
if or when you can't take it, scroll down to the pictures.
:)
Warblers are many people's favorite birds. Stunning beauty,
fast action, endless variety, amazing lives, most with long
migrations, and in fall, identification challenges.
Most don't really warble very well, but their songs are
favorites, each usually with A and B songs, plus a selection
of call notes.... imagine 55 chip notes to learn!
How exciting can it get!?! Each one slightly different
in its own special way, when learned offer the best most
diagnostic field mark one could ask for. The thrill of it all!
Here we'll show a few of them, and might even include some photos
taken elsewhere to better illustrate them. About 35 of North
America's 55 species are known from the Sabinal River Valley area.
Only about 20 and change occur in any given year, if you are lucky.
I have seen 25 species at Utopia Park (5.5 yrs.). There is a
Black-throated Gray record someone else saw there too, so
that means at least 26 sps. at the park so far, that I know of.
With its 30 years of spring birder coverage Lost Maples shows
33 species of warblers on its list. BUT nearly HALF of them
(15) have been seen only once (x). Less than 20 occur annually.
We have a few nesting species of warblers locally, 5 regular annual
breeders, and 3 species of toe-holder colonists that are perhaps
wishing and hoping they could breed, maybe they are. Of course
most have at least heard of the Golden-cheeked Warbler due
to its endangered status. It is best seen at Lost Maples.
Other warblers nesting there (and other headwater stream habitats
locally like Big Springs over the hill) are Louisiana Waterthrush,
and Black-and-white Warbler. Anywhere along the big rivers in the
tall Cypress trees there are nesting Yellow-throated Warbler,
of a vocally distinct flavor, and a ball moss specialist here.
Edwardsplateauensis I call it. Finally, the 5th regular nesting
warbler is Yellow-breasted Chat which uses brushy areas either
in the riparian flood zone, or around fields and woodland edges.
A note on the Yellow-throated Warbler song type here. All across
America, found in the entire eastern half, Yellow-throated Warblers sing
essentially the same song, a descending Canyon Wren like clear whistled
down scale run: slee slee slee slee slee slee slee slee slee.
Sometimes with a high thick TIK note at the end for flourish.
Here, on the Medina, Sabinal, Frio, Nueces and Guadalupe Rivers at
least, they sing a lazy modulation between two frequencies, with a
different emphatic ending. Some might say more like between a Hooded
and Chestnut- sided Warbler, or even a Yellow-rumped Warbler, but
quite very unlike all the other Yellow-throated Warblers in the U.S..
It is sort of a slow lazy "we see we see we SEE you two".
The line of seperation is a map that has never been drawn. I am
very surprised Oberholser missed this, considering things like Bexar
Brown Thrasher, but dead birds don't sing. These can also show
an almost orange tint to the lower throat, very briefly in spring, which
wears away quickly. I do not know if the others show that or not.
Here the species is abundant, territories ca. 200-300 linear feet of river
gallery forest, and are edge to edge. It is a Ball Moss (Tillandsia
recurvata) specialist, feeding heavilly and nesting in it. Nesting
is high in the Bald Cypress that line the major rivers.
In the borderline irregular category, there are a few other
warblers perhaps trying to breed locally. There are what seem to
be nesting Northern Parula across the divide from Lost Maples at
Big Springs, the Frio river headwaters, discovered by Tony Gallucci.
They are barely an annual spring migrant on the Sabinal River.
There are no summering Northern Parulas along the Frio or Sabinal
Rivers. They only occur as rare migrants in April. The above
mentioned probable nesting Northern Parula are way above Leakey
in a unique exceptionally lush headwaters micro-habitat, unlike
the Frio or Sabinal gallery forest habitats along their corridors.
Then territorial singing male Tropical Parula are nearly annual
along the big south-draining rivers in April and May, in small but
multiple numbers, but no local breeding is known or proven.
Almost all are males, some years two or three occur, trolling
with song, one stayed 6 weeks on territory near Utopia.
A PAIR of Rufous-capped Warbler was resident a couple years
at Concan until a 3-day ice storm. There are numerous local
records and it should be expected to continue attempts at
colonization, as the Tropical Parula is. So three additional
species of warblers have toeholds, sorta, locally, as extremely
low density presumed attempting breeders, though a nest has
never been found in the state for the Rufous-capped, or in the
hill country for the Tropical Parula. Any suspected instance
requires good evidence documentation.
For spring warbler migration, Nashville Warbler is the only abundant
species locally. Yellow-rumped (mostly Myrtle, some Audubon's),
and Orange-crowned, the next two most numerous, could qualify as
common migrant species. Then probably Yellow Warbler is the 4th
most common. Black-throated Green and Wilson's are 5th
and 6th most common and Black-and-white 7th. Of those species
multiples are expected best day of passage each spring. After
that it gets slim pickens quickly, and nothing could be considered
common. This is not migrant warbler heaven, with its low
diversity of generally inland or overland migrants, and no focal point
of geographics or habitat (concentration factor). It takes work
to see 20 species in a spring migration season, and a quarter of those
will likely be "only one individual seen" species.
The lack of concentration factor, where a billion acres all look
the same from the sky, a tree everywhere, no matter where the bird
looks, especially shows in fall when besides Yellow Warbler, seeing
multiples of almost anything is unusual. Very few warblers pass
through the area (detectably) in fall until late October or November
when the Yellow-rumped Warblers arrive. In winter there will be
Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) and a few Orange-crowned for sure. Most
winters there will be some Pine Warblers along any drainage corridor,
especially at Garner. Most warblers are highly insectivorous,
and only those that can eat other things like berries, or seeds,
can winter northward usually.
Here are a few poor pictures of some of the warblers found here...
Yellow-throated Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
(yes the names can be confusing)
Orange-crowned Warbler
some are named for the hardest part to see
Orange-crowned Warbler, which
will use hummer feeders in winter
Pine Warbler, immature
"Myrtle" form of Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
Tropical Parula, a rarity locally
Golden-cheeked Warbler
Golden-cheeked Warbler
Kentucky Warbler, male at Utopia Park Aug 9-18, 2009.
Accidental in fall in west half of Texas.
Louisiana Waterthrush, juvenile
Louisiana Waterthrush, adult
Golden-cheeked Warbler male feeding fledgling
(taken through telescope from safe distance)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, not a warbler
but often with them in winter.
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