Vol, 2, # 5 – The Cerulean Warbler

June 13, 2013 by Lee

Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) – Birds Illustrated by Color Photography

THE CERULEAN WARBLER.

HIS beautiful little sky-blue feathered creature is well named Azure Warbler, or again White-throated Blue Warbler, and is the most abundant of the genus here.

It is a bird of the wood, everywhere associated with the beautiful tall forests of the more northern counties of western New York, sometimes found in the open woods of pasture-lands, and quite partial to hardwood trees. In its flitting motion in search of insect-prey, and in the jerking curves of its more prolonged flight, as also in its structure, it is a genuine Wood Warbler and keeps for the most part to what Thoreau calls the “upper story” of its sylvan domain.

All Warblers, it has been said, depend upon their markings rather than song for their identity, which renders the majority of the tribe of greater interest to the scientist than to the novice. Until you have named four or five of the commonest species as landmarks, you will be considerably confused.

Audubon described the song of the Cerulean Warbler as “extremely sweet and mellow,” whereas it is a modest little strain, says Chapman, or trill, divided into syllables like zee, zee, zee, ze-ee-ee-eep, or according to another observer, rheet, rheet, rheet, rheet, ridi, idi, e-e-e-e-ee; beginning with several soft warbling notes and ending in a rather prolonged but quite musical squeak. The latter and more rapid part of the strain, which is given in the upward slide, approaches an insect quality of tone which is more or less peculiar to all true Warblers, a song so common as to be a universal characteristic of our tall forests.

It is not strange that the nest of this species has been so seldom discovered, even where the bird is very abundant during the breeding season. It is built in the higher horizontal branches of forest trees, always out some distance from the trunk, and ranging from twenty to fifty feet above the ground. One described by Dr. Brewer, found in Ontario, near Niagara Falls, was built in a large oak tree at the height of fifty or more feet from the ground. It was placed horizontally on the upper surface of a slender limb between two small twigs; and the branch on which it was thus saddled was only an inch and a half in thickness, being nine feet from the trunk of the tree. The abandoned home was secured with great difficulty.

The nest is a rather slender fabric, somewhat similar to the nest of the Redstart, and quite small for the bird, consisting chiefly of a strong rim firmly woven of strips of fine bark, stems of grasses, and pine needles, bound round with flaxen fibres of plants and wool. Around the base a few bits of hornets’ nests, mosses, and lichens are loosely fastened. The nest within is furnished with fine stems and needles, the flooring very thin and slight.

The bird is shy when started from the nest, and has a sharp chipping alarm-note common to the family.

The Cerulean Warbler is found in the Eastern States, but is more numerous west of the Allegheny mountains, and throughout the heavily wooded districts of the Mississippi valley. In winter it migrates to Central America and Cuba. The Warblers are of unfailing interest to the lover of bird life. Apart from the beauty of the birds themselves, with their perpetually contrasting colors among the green leaves, their pretty ways furnish to the silent watcher an ever changing spectacle of the innocent life in the tree-tops.

Summary:

CERULEAN WARBLER—Dendræca caerulea. Other names: “Azure Warbler;” “White-throated Blue Warbler.”

Range—Mississippi valley as far north as Minnesota, and eastward as far as Lockport, N. Y. (Davison.) Winters in the tropics.

Nest—Of fine grasses bound with spider’s silk, lined with strips of bark and with a few lichens attached to its upper surface, in a tree, twenty-five to fifty feet from the ground. (Chapman.)

Eggs—Four, creamy-white, thickly covered with rather heavy blotches of reddish brown.

Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) ©WikC

Lee’s Addition:

The birds of heaven dwell by them; they give forth their voice from among the branches. (Psalms 104:12 Darby)

The Lord has given us another neat little bird to observe. The color reminds us of the blue sky above. The Cerulean Warblers are part of the Parulidae – New World Warblers Family.

“Adult males have pale cerulean blue upperparts and white underparts with a black necklace across the breast; they also have black streaks on the back and flanks. Females and immature birds have greyer or greenish upperparts, a pale stripe over the eye, and no streaking on the back and no necklace. All of these birds, regardless of their age, have wing bars and a thin pointed bill. A small wood warbler of about 4 inches (11.5 cm) in length, with long pointed wings, short tail, and long under tail coverts. Males have blue upper parts and white below with black streaking on back and upper tail coverts. Females are bluish-green to olive-green above with white under parts and a white or yellowish eyebrow stripe. Both sexes have 2 white wing bars and white tail spots. Juveniles are similar to female with brownish/gray upper parts, white under parts and a pale crown stripe. The cerulean warbler is often found high in the canopy of mature forests.

Their breeding habitats are mature deciduous forests in eastern North America. They migrate to spend the boreal winter in forested mountain areas in South America. The cerulean warbler is an early migrant and arrives on breeding grounds up to 2 weeks before other wood warbler migrants. Males arrive one week before females and pairs form as soon as females arrive. Age of first breeding is one year. Both sexes participate in nest site selection but construction is carried out by the female who may take up to a week to construct the nest.

They forage actively high in trees, sometimes catching insects in flight. These birds mainly eat insects. Their nests are cup-shaped, and are placed on a horizontal branch high in a hardwood tree. The song is a buzzed zray zray zray zray zeeee. The call is a slurred chip.

Song by Tayler Brooks – xeno-canto.org

The Cerulean Warbler is the fastest declining neotropical migrant songbird. Among the many threats they face, their wintering habitat in the northern Andes is dwindling rapidly. Cerulean Warblers depend on shade coffee plantations during the winter. In fragmented forest areas, this bird is vulnerable to nest parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird. This bird’s numbers are declining faster than any other warbler species in the USA; its population in 2006 was less than one-fifth of what it was 40 years before.

The Cerulean Warbler has been recorded as a vagrant to Iceland.” (Wikipedia and NY DEC with editing)

Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) at nest ©L Walkinshaw

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

The above article is an article in the monthly serial for October 1897 “designed to promote Knowledge of Bird-Live.” These include Color Photography, as they call them, today they are drawings. There are at least three Volumes that have been digitized by Project Gutenberg.

To see the whole series of – Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

(Information from Wikipedia and other internet sources)

Next Article – The Yellow-billed Tropic Bird

The Previous Article – The Wild Turkey

Wordless Birds

Links:

Parulidae – New World Warblers
Cerulean Warbler – All About Birds
Cerulean Warbler – Wikipedia
Cerulean Warbler – Defenders of Wildlife
Cerulean Warbler Fact Sheet – NY DEC

Vol. 2, No. 4 – The Blackburnian Warbler

January 29, 2013 by Lee

Blackburnian Warbler of Birds Illustrated by Color Photography, 1897

From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. Copyrighted by
Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.

THE BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER.

F the children had had the naming of birds we venture to say that it would have been more appropriately done, and “Blackburnian,” as many other names of Warblers, would have had no place in literature. There are about seventy-five well known Warblers, nearly all with common names indicating the most characteristic colors or habits, or partly descriptive of the bird itself. The common names of this beautiful Warbler are Orange-throated Warbler and Hemlock Warbler. Some one has suggested that it should be called the Torch Bird, for “half a dozen of them as they flash about in the pines, raising their wings and jerking their tails, make the darkest shadows seem breaking into little tongues of flame.”

The Orange-throat is only migratory in Illinois, passing through in spring and fall, its summer home being chiefly if not wholly, to the northward, while it passes the winter in Central America and northern South America. It is found in New York and in portions of Massachusetts, frequenting the coniferous forests, and building its nest in bushes or small trees a few feet above the ground. Dr. C. Hart Merriam found a pair of these birds nesting in a grove of large white pines in Lewis County, New York. In the latter part of May the female was observed building, and on the second of June the nest contained four fresh eggs of the Warbler and one of the Cow bird. The nest was saddled on the horizontal limb about eight feet from the ground and about ten feet from the trunk. Nests have been found in pine trees in Southern Michigan at an elevation of forty feet. In all cases the nests are placed high in hemlocks or pines, which are the bird’s favorite resorts. From all accounts the nests of this species are elegantly and compactly made, consisting of a densely woven mass of spruce twigs, soft vegetable down, rootlets, and fine shreds of bark. The lining is often intermixed with horse hairs and feathers. Four eggs of greenish-white or very pale bluish-green, speckled or spotted, have usually been found in the nests.

The autumnal male Warblers resemble the female. They have two white bands instead of one; the black stripes on the side are larger; under parts yellowish; the throat yellowish, passing into purer yellow behind. Few of our birds are more beautiful than the full plumaged male of this lovely bird, whose glowing orange throat renders it a conspicuous object among the budding and blossoming branches of the hemlocks. Chapman says, coming in May, before the woods are fully clad, he seems like some bright plumaged tropical bird who has lost his way and wandered to northern climes. The summer is passed among the higher branches in coniferous forests, and in the early fall the bird returns to surroundings which seem more in keeping with its attire.

Mr. Minot describes the Blackburnian Warbler’s summer song as resembling the syllables wee-see-wee-see, while in the spring its notes may be likened to wee-see-wee-see, tsee, tsee, tsee, repeated, the latter syllables being on ascending scale, the very last shrill and fine.

Summary:

BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER.—Dendroica blackburniæ.

Range—Eastern North America; breeds from northern Minnesota and southern Maine northward to Labrador and southward along the Alleghenies to South Carolina; winters in the tropics.

Nest—Of fine twigs and grasses, lined with grasses and tendrils, in coniferous trees, ten to forty feet up.

Eggs—Four, grayish white or bluish white, distinctly and obscurely spotted, speckled, and blotched with cinnamon brown or olive brown.

Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca) by J Fenton

Lee’s Addition:

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. (Psalms 104:12 ESV)

What a gorgeous beauty the Lord created with this Warbler. Aren’t they just a delight to behold. The male of course is the most colorful. They belong to the Parulidae – New World Warblers Family. A nice photo of a male and female is on Looking back … scroll to the end of the article.

“The Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca) is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina.

Blackburnian Warblers are migratory, wintering in southern Central America and in South America, and are very rare vagrants to western Europe. These birds were named after Anna Blackburne, an English botanist.

Blackburnian Warblers are around 4.3 to 5.1 in (11 to 13 cm) long, with a 7.9 to 8.7 in (20 to 22 cm) wingspan, and weigh 0.28 to 0.46 oz (8 to 13 g). The average mass of an adult bird is 0.34 oz (9.7 g).

Blackburnian Warblers display dark gray backs and double white wing bars, with yellowish rumps and dark brown crowns. The underparts of these birds are white, and are tinged with yellow and streaked black. The head is strongly patterned in yellow and black, with a flaming-orange throat. It is the only North American warbler with this striking plumage. Other plumages, including the fall male and adult female, are washed-out versions of the summer male, and in particular lack the bright colors and strong head pattern. Basic plumages show weaker yellows and gray in place of black in the breeding male. Blackburnian Warblers’ songs are a simple series of high swi notes, which often ascend in pitch. Their call is a high sip.

WhatBird’s Sound Page for the Blackburnian

Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca) by Raymond Barlow

Blackburnian Warblers are solitary during winter and highly territorial on their breeding grounds and do not mix with other passerine species outside of the migratory period. However, during migration, they often join local mixed foraging flocks of species such as chickadees, kinglets and nuthatches. These birds are basically insectivorous, but will include berries in their diets in wintertime. They usually forage by searching for insects or spiders in treetops. The breeding habitats of these birds are mature coniferous woodlands or mixed woodlands, especially ones containing spruce and hemlocks. It typically winters in tropical montane forests.

Blackburnian Warblers build a nest consisting of an open cup of twigs, bark, plant fibers, and rootlets held to branch with spider web and lined with lichens, moss, hair, and dead pine needles that’s placed near the end of a branch. 3-5 whitish eggs are laid its nest which is usually placed 2–38 m (5–80 feet) above the ground, on a horizontal branch.” (Wikipedia with editing)

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

To see the whole series of – Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

(Information from Wikipedia and other internet sources)

Next Article – The Lost Mate

The Previous Article – White-Breasted Nuthatch

ABC’s of the Gospel

Links:

Blackburnian Warbler – Wikipedia

Blackburnian Warbler – All About Birds

Blackburnian Warbler – WhatBird

Vol. 2, No. 3 – The Yellow Warbler

October 16, 2012 by Lee

Summer Yellow-Bird for Birds Illustrated by Color Photography, 1897

THE YELLOW WARBLER.

N a recent article Angus Gaines describes so delightfully some of the characteristics of the Yellow Warbler, or Summer Yellow-bird, sometimes called the Wild Canary, that we are tempted to make use of part of it. “Back and forth across the garden the little yellow birds were flitting, dodging through currant and gooseberry bushes, hiding in the lilacs, swaying for an instant on swinging sprays of grape vines, and then flashing out across the garden beds like yellow sunbeams. They were lithe, slender, dainty little creatures, and were so quick in their movements that I could not recognize them at first, but when one of them hopped down before me, lifted a fallen leaf and dragged a cutworm from beneath it, and, turning his head, gave me a sidewise glance with his victim still struggling in his beak, I knew him. His gay coat was yellow without the black cap, wings, and tail which show in such marked contrast to the bright canary hue of that other yellow bird, the Gold-finch.

“Small and delicate as these birds are, they had been on a long journey to the southward to spend the winter, and now on the first of May, they had returned to their old home to find the land at its fairest—all blossoms, buds, balmy air, sunshine, and melody. As they flitted about in their restless way, they sang the soft, low, warbling trills, which gave them their name of Yellow Warbler.”

Mrs. Wright says these beautiful birds come like whirling leaves, half autumn yellow, half green of spring, the colors blending as in the outer petals of grass-grown daffodils. “Lovable, cheerful little spirits, darting about the trees, exclaiming at each morsel that they glean. Carrying sun glints on their backs wherever they go, they should make the gloomiest misanthrope feel the season’s charm. They are so sociable and confiding, feeling as much at home in the trees by the house as in seclusion.”

The Yellow-bird builds in bushes, and the nest is a wonderful example of bird architecture. Milkweed, lint and its strips of fine bark are glued to twigs, and form the exterior of the nest. Its inner lining is made of the silky down on dandelion-balls woven together with horse-hair. In this dainty nest are laid four or five creamy white eggs, speckled with lilac tints and red-browns. The unwelcome egg of the Cow-bird is often found in the Yellow-bird’s nest, but this Warbler builds a floor over the egg, repeating the expedient, if the Cow-bird continues her mischief, until sometimes a third story is erected.

A pair of Summer Yellow-birds, we are told, had built their nest in a wild rose bush, and were rearing their family in a wilderness of fragrant blossoms whose tinted petals dropped upon the dainty nest, or settled upon the back of the brooding mother. The birds, however, did not stay “to have their pictures taken,” but their nest may be seen among the roses.

The Yellow Warbler’s song is Sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweeter-sweeter: seven times repeated.

Summary:

YELLOW WARBLER.—Dendroica æstiva. Other names: “Summer Yellow-bird,” “Wild Canary,” “Yellow-poll Warbler.”

Range—The whole of North America; breeding throughout its range. In winter, the whole of middle America and northern South America.

Nest—Built in an apple tree, cup-shaped, neat and compact, composed of plant fibres, bark, etc.

Eggs—Four or five; greenish-white, spotted.

American Yellow Warbler (Dendroica aestiva) by J Fenton

Lee’s Addition:

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. (Psalms 69:30 KJV)

This Yellow Warbler is now the American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva) which is the Parulidae – New World Warblers Family.

The Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia, formerly Dendroica petechia) is a New World warbler species. Sensu lato, they make up the most widespread Setophaga species, breeding in almost the whole of North America and down to northern South America.

Other than in male breeding plumage, all subspecies are very similar. Winter, female and immature birds all have similarly greenish-yellow uppersides and are a duller yellow below. Young males soon acquire breast and, where appropriate, head coloration. Females are somewhat duller, most notably on the head. In all, the remiges and rectrices are blackish olive with yellow edges, sometimes appearing as an indistinct wing-band on the former. The eyes and the short thin beak are dark, while the feet are lighter or darker olive-buff.

The 35 subspecies of D. petechia sensu lato can be divided into three main groups according to the males’ head color in the breeding season. Each of these groups is sometimes considered a separate species, or the aestiva group (Yellow Warbler) is considered a species different from D. petechia (Mangrove Warbler, including Golden Warbler); the latter option is the one currently accepted by the International Ornithological Congress World Bird List.

American Yellow Warbler (Dendroica aestiva) by Daves BirdingPix

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

The above article is an article in the monthly serial for September 1897 “designed to promote Knowledge of Bird-Live.” These include Color Photography, as they call them, today they are drawings. There are at least three Volumes that have been digitized by Project Gutenberg.

To see the whole series of – Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

(Information from Wikipedia and other internet sources)

Next Article – The Hermit Thrush

The Previous Article – Bird Song – September

Wordless Birds

Links:

Parulidae – New World Warblers

American Yellow Warbler – All About Birds

American Yellow Warbler – Wikipedia

Yellow Warbler – What Bird