BirdNote; Wilson's Warbler Part III

BirdNote®

Wilson’s Warbler -

Welcome Back, Wilson’s Warbler

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote!

Back in September, BirdNote began following a tiny Wilson’s Warbler as it migrated south from the Pacific Northwest to the tropics. We visited the warbler again in December, on its wintering grounds on a shade-grown coffee farm in Belize.

[Call notes of Wilson’s Warbler]

As April arrives, the sprightly yellow bird with the black cap is migrating northward. Flying at night, it may cover hundreds of miles a night with a good tailwind. Under the cover of darkness, the warbler avoids encounters with hawks. And the night-time atmosphere is less turbulent. The warbler spends days foraging on the spring flush of insects – often several days in one area – restoring the energy needed for the long journey north. It may migrate in loose association with small numbers of other Neotropical migrants such as vireos, flycatchers, and other warblers.

[Wilson’s Warbler song]

Males typically precede females northward. When they arrive at their breeding grounds, they immediately begin to sing on nesting territories to attract mates. [Wilson’s Warbler song] Often they return to the very same patch of low shrubby habitat they have occupied in previous years.

[Wilson’s Warbler song]

To learn more about protecting and enhancing habitat for birds and all wildlife, come to BirdNote.org.

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Audio of Wilson’s Warbler provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Call recorded by C. Hanks. Song recorded by T.G. Sander.

Producer: John Kessler

Executive Producer: Chris Peterson

© 2010 Tune In to Nature.org April 2010

ID# 040307WIWA3-4KPLU WIWA-03