Tag: warbler

Fire Smoke and Migration

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A Blackburnian warbler with a long flight ahead stops in Iroquois County to recharge before continuing to Central or South America for the winter.

September 9, 2023 – The calendar, a shared understanding of humans, says that autumn does not officially begin in the Northern Hemisphere until the 23rd of this month on the day of the astronomical event known as the autumnal equinox. For Warblers, those dainty little songbirds, instinct is the main driving force, and we begin to see the movement of these birds south of their summer range in mid-August as their fall migration begins. Blackburnian and Black-and-white warblers are just a few recent sightings in Kankakee and Iroquois counties. Seasonal weather patterns are part of what stimulates the bird migration; the strong northerly winds and cooler nights influence when the birds move south, but this year there is another factor that is not yet fully understood, and that is the impact from the historic, widespread, and devastating wildfires burning to the north. The wildfires in Canada began in March and have burned millions of acres of Canada’s boreal forests across all provinces and territories. The smoke and flames are as dangerous to birds as to humans, and there is little doubt that many birds have had to abandon nesting attempts in and around the impacted areas. There is still a good chance that the birds escaping the fire and smoke attempted to nest again in other areas. Nesting habitats in these northern forests have been and continue to be destroyed by this extreme climate event, and that charred landscape in the coming spring may be a real challenge for birds arriving for the breeding season. Fire has always had a role in the life cycle of the forested ecosystem, actually helping renew the boreal landscape; experts acknowledge that today’s fires are more extreme than in the past and can change which plant species grow back after these scorched earth events. As the fall migration intensifies over the coming days, migrating warblers from points north will hopefully be seen in our area of Illinois as they head south toward their winter range in the Gulf states, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Only time will tell how these extreme climate events of our warmer, drier, and changing planet will impact the warblers and all other plant and animal species, for that matter. Let us hope that our indecisiveness and resistance to implementing a more urgent plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has not manifested into those proverbial chickens that have come home to roost.

Searching through the leafy branches for insects a Tennessee warbler shows itself for just a moment before continuing its hunt.

The Cape May Warbler

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A Cape May warbler in its’ lovely fall plumage of yellow tones and subtle black stripes.

September 24, 2020 – The Cape May warbler winters in the West Indies and breeds in the boreal forests of the northern border states from Minnesota east to Maine, and north into southern Canada, from Quebec west to Alberta, and into the southern edge of the Northwest Territories. These warblers are highly dependent on the spruce budworms as a source of food, a good year for the budworms means a great year for the warblers. Those banner years for spruce budworms coincide with more fall sightings in places where the Cape May warblers are less often seen. Although the Cape May warblers specialize in the spruce budworms that are plentiful in their summer nesting areas, they also can take advantage of other sources of nourishment such as the nectar from flowering plants, and the juices from ripe fruits. Similar to hummingbirds, flowering nectar rich plants are an important source in their winter habitats as well during the fall migration. These warblers have a specialized tongue that is semi-tubular that allows them to lap up nectar with ease. They also can use their sharp, pointed bill to puncture the skins of fruits to get to those sweet sugary juices. The little warbler gets its name from Cape May, a county in New Jersey, where the species was first collected, not far from the coast in a maple swamp where George Ord, a zoologist, was on a collecting trip with the celebrated ornithologist Alexander Wilson in1812. There is more to this story about when the Cape May warbler may have actually been collected at a much earlier date, in the Caribbean in 1751, and named the Spotted Yellow Fly-catcher, but that’s another story and it seems the name Cape May has stuck. After discovering the species in Cape May, the next recorded sighting of the bird at that location would not happen for another 100 years.

The Cape May warbler that was perched on a branch in Kankakee recently gave a good side view that revealed some its’ less often seen markings.

Songs and Flashy Colors

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A male Ruby-crowned Kinglet flashes his bright red feathers atop his head as a warning to other kinglets to stay out of his territory.

April 30, 2020 – The season of new growth and flowery fragrant blooms brings fresh songs and flashy colors, as migrating warblers and Kinglets show up in the thickets and along the brambly prairie edges. Busily feeding, while taking little time to preen or rest, some of these travelers have reached their summer nesting areas while other birds still have miles to go and are loading up on insects and worms while at this bountiful northbound sojourn. On some days these temporary stops can be very busy places with many species of birds. Some are here the year around, like the bright red singing male Cardinal calling out to a female and bringing her seeds as she glides in and perches nearby. A Brown thrasher, a short-distance migrant that winters from the tip of Southern Illinois and all of the Southeastern United States, has arrived. It is hard to miss this large songbird with its’ bright yellow eyes and impressive chisel-like bill and long tail feathers. Often seen perched and singing its’ many songs, a faceted repertoire of melodious lyric that sounds as if there are five or six other birds making those rich notes, the Brown thrasher without a doubt is an inspiration and an uplifting treat to the senses. The shadowy places beneath overgrown bushes and briers are the hunting grounds for the Hermit thrush. The little brown bird, with a spotted breast, and large dark eyes, adorned with distinct white eye-rings, is a secretive bird that may be watching you before you ever notice it. The sparrow sized bird is occasionally revealed as it moves through the broken sunlight that has illuminated the fallen limbs and leaf litter in the small open areas below the thick understory. Scratching the litter as it looks for insects, the little thrush eventually disappears from sight as it continues its’ ground level hunt though the woody labyrinth. Ruby-crowned kinglets are busy in the trees and bushes searching for insects. These tiny birds are on their way north to northern Wisconsin and on into Canada for the nesting season. A male kinglet has lay claim to some nearby bushes and the branches in a tree about ten feet above the ground that he is aggressively guarding and will not allow any other kinglets to come near. When an intruder comes too close, the little male quickly swoops in showing his fiery red feathers on top of his head, that are normally flat and almost hidden. That blazing red flashy plumage, that is only erect for a few seconds, is standing straight up in a threatening display as he chases the other birds away from his claimed hunting spot. Soon more colors will arrive with the warm southern winds, some of these birds will stay, and some will continue north and for the lucky observers there will be those less often seen warblers, those mysterious neotropical beauties that are sure to touch ones heart with only a momentary glimpse that leaves a lasting impression as they pass through on their way north.

A male Yellow-rumped warbler in his breeding plumage stops for a moment on a branch as it searches for insects in a small tree.

Plenty To Eat

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A Warbling vireo pauses for only a moment as it searches the leaves for insects.

August 5, 2019 – As we are coming to the end of August one can not help but notice the changes that are happening as another autumn nears and summer contemplates its’ well earned rest. The changes that have been a bit subtle are now upon us. The angle of the sunlight brings an inspiring warm tone to the landscape. The gentle breezes swirling through the forest canopy rustles and rattles the matured leaves allowing us to hear those uplifting whispers of the mighty Cottonwood. We have come to that time of the year where there is a bounty in the northern hemisphere for the avian migrants and those birds that are here year-round. Recently fledged birds, along with the adults, are fattening up for the migration, checking every leaf, stem, and branch for insects and worms. Little Blue-gray gnatcatchers, Warbling vireos, and Chickadees are persistently looking over and under every leaf while they cling tightly to the stems as they feed. Thistle and other seeds, berries, and nectar are available for the birds that are coming south from the higher latitudes as well as the birds that have nested here in Northeastern Illinois.

A female yellow warbler looking for a meal carefully surveys her next move into the thicket.

Prothonotary warblers stand out with their bright yellow feathers and olive-gray toned back and wings while gobbling up caterpillars with amazing success as they pluck them off those woody plants at the waters edge. Goldfinches are on the beautiful purple blooming thistle plants along roadways and on the prairies searching for the high fat and protein rich thistle seeds. Adults and this years’ young Hummingbirds stake out and fearlessly defend, from a good perch, their abundant food source, a large thick patch of Orange Jewelweed surrounded by other nectar giving plants. Some of these travelers will be around for a while feeding and fattening-up and growing strong for either a long or short migration. As the weeks go by though, and those abundant food sources in our area start to wane, the north wind bringing cooler temperatures, many birds will leave our area in a final push and continue south where they will spend the winter in a warmer climate.

Tiny Swarming Gnats

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April 22, 2019 – Gnatcatchers, warblers, kinglets and wrens were feeding on the abundance of tiny swarming gnats this past week at the edge of a small wooded area south of Kankakee. There were five Blue-gray gnatcatchers quickly hopping from branch to branch feasting on the large number of gnats that were covering the tree branches. The gnatcatchers are migrants that winter from the Southeastern coast of the United States, Florida, along the Gulf coast west and down into Mexico and Central America. Northern Illinois is near the northern edge of their nesting range that stretches up into Wisconsin and may be expanding as the climate warms.

A Northern parula warbler studies the bark of the tree looking intently for a small insect.

A pair of Ruby-crowned kinglets were visiting the same tree taking advantage of the abundance of protein. The little kinglets are about halfway between their winter range and their summer nesting territory. A house wren was also at the banquet and is now in its’ summer range while the smaller Winter wren that was busy searching for insects lower on a tree stump still has a little ways to go before it reaches its’ summer nesting territory. Field sparrows were there looking through the nooks and crannies of the decaying wood stumps for insects and worms.

A Northern parula warbler which nest in most of the eastern half of United States brought the most color to the brunch. The small parula warbler is a long-distance neotropical migrant that winters along the Gulf of Mexico from Mexico down into Central America and east throughout the Caribbean. The tiny warbler has yellow from under its’ chin down across its’ breast. The lower half of the birds bill is a bright yellow that matches those bright yellow feathers on its’ chin and even in the muted light looked brilliant against the bluish feathers on the upper parts of the little warbler.

The Palm warbler

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Palm warbler in non-breeding plumage

Palm warbler in non-breeding plumage

Palm warbler in its' breeding plumage

Palm warbler in its’ breeding plumage

September 14, 2017 – The Palm warbler is considered a medium distance migrant wintering in the Gulf Coastal region of the United States and the islands of the Caribbean west to the Yucatan Peninsula. The Palm warbler spends the summer on its’ breeding habitat in the low marshy areas of the Northern United State and the fens and marshes in the boreal forests of Canada which is quite appropriately known as “North America’s bird nursery”. The warbler can lay up to five eggs in its’ specialized grass nest lined with feathers and soft plants near the base of a small conifer tree or shrub. One photo shows a Palm warbler in its’ breeding plumage which was photographed in May during the northerly spring migration and the other photo shows a Palm warbler in non-breeding plumage captured this past week in mid September as the little warblers are heading south during the fall migration.