Hunting Digital Plumes in the US and Beyond: December 2014

Saturday, December 20, 2014

2014 Year in Review: The Warblers (47 species)

[2014 Year in Reivew]

Warblers are rightly said to be our "avian butterflies" and, owing in no small part to their fantastic coloration and unique songs, they attract a fascination disproportionate to their diminutive size. It remains an unfulfilled personal quest to photograph all of our warbler species within a calendar year; until then, this year's total of 47 will have to do (compare to 48 species in 2013 -- both counts include some Caribbean species).

While 2014's total of 47 is one less than last year's, the mix of species was nonetheless quite noteworthy. Indeed 2014 rewarded this blogger with 4 warbler lifers: 2 observed in Texas (the highly coveted Colima and Golden-cheeked Warblers), 1 in the Caribbean (Green-tailed Warbler) and 1 in Virginia (Swainson's Warbler).

When it comes to venues -- in this blogger's own experience, limited as it may be -- none can surpass the fabled hotspot that is Magee Marsh in Oak Harbor, Ohio. A total of 29 species of wood warbler were photographed at this hallowed venue, which goes to underscore its status in birding lore as the Warbler Mecca of America.

If the highly restricted Colima Warbler, however, is on your target list you will have no choice but to travel to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Be forewarned because the sighting will not come easily -- the chance to see one will demand a full measure of toil and sweat over a 10-mile hike high up in the Chisos Mountains. Other notable but far less physically exacting sites visited included the Sanibel Lighthouse, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (both in Southwest Florida) and Port Huron SGA, MI. In the Western Region, Madera Canyon and Mt. Lemmon (both in SE Arizona) are unparalleled.

Without further ado, here's the full list:

Eastern Warblers

American Redstart
Blackburnian Warbler
Baybreasted Warbler
Blackpoll
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Canada Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Golden-winged Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Kirtland's Warbler
Louisiana Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Northern Parula
Nashville Warbler
Northern Warterthrush
Ovenbird
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Yellow Warbler

Caribbean Warblers

Green-tailed Warbler

Western Warblers

Black-throated Grey Warbler
Colima Warbler
Golden-cheeked Warbler
Grace's Warbler
Lucy's Warbler
McGillivray's Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Olive Warbler
Painted Redstart
Red-faced Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat

That makes 47 species in all. What's missing from the list? Hermit, Audubon's, Virginia's, and Tropical Parula from our Western region and Worm-eating and Connecticut Warblers from the Eastern.

We start with the Eastern Warblers:

American Redstart
Betraying the Old World origins of its name (the original Redstart is an Old World flycatcher; and if you're wondering what a "start" is, it's Old English for "tail"), the American Redstart is a striking warbler:

Seen at Jardin Botanico, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

In Migration @ Magee Marsh

Blackburnian Warbler
This warbler is a perennial favorite of birders and it excites attention and awe wherever sighted:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Baybreasted Warbler
Eschewing the most common color in warblers (yellow) for earthtones:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Blackpoll
A long distance champion with orange legs:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Black-throated Blue Warbler
We have only two predominantly blue warblers and this is one of them:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Black-throated Green Warbler
The "green" in this warbler is found on its back:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Blue-winged Warbler
Known for its buzzy song, this common warbler is displacing the Golden-winged Warbler where their ranges overlap.

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen at Port Huron SGA

Black-and-white Warbler
Seen in the Bahamas, Ohio, and Florida:

Seen on Grand Bahama Island

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen at Corkscrew Swamp

Canada Warbler
A late migrant at Magee, this warbler is much coveted owing to its unique "necklace":

Seen at Magee Marsh

Cape May Warbler
Our only warbler with cinnamon cheeks!

Seen at Magee Marsh

Cerulean Warbler
Featuring at the top of the list as the warbler most birders desire to see, the Cerulean is a sublime warbler whose populations are suffering a sharp decline:

Seen at Algonac State Park

Chestnut-sided Warbler
A common and somewhat under-rated warbler:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen at Port Huron SGA

Common Yellowthroat
Our most widespread warbler:

Seen at Lake St. Clair Metropark

Golden-winged Warbler
Populations are crashing and hybridization with the Blue-winged is a problem for this gorgeous warbler:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Hooded Warbler
Observed well at both the Sanibel Lighthouse (Florida) as well as Port Huron SGA (Michigan):

Seen at Sanibel Lighthouse

Seen at Port Huron SGA

Kentucky Warbler
Unlike the preceding year, the Kentucky Warbler was elusive at Magee Marsh but was thankfully sighted in migration at Sanibel Lighthouse:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Kirtland's Warbler
Saved from the brink of extinction, this is a "must see" warbler for all American birders:

Seen at Grayling

Louisiana Waterthrush
Having missed it in Spring migration, it was a pleasure to catch this waterthrush on its Fall migration at Corkscrew Swamp:

Seen at Corkscrew

Magnolia Warbler
Magnolias are commonly observed in migration and they did not disappoint at Magee:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Mourning Warbler

A notorious skulker, the Mourning Warbler will generally offer only frustratingly short and heavily obstructed views:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen at Port Huron SGA

Myrtle Warbler
Commonly observed in migration:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Northern Parula
This tiny warbler bursts with character:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen at Corkscrew Samp

Nashville Warbler

Seen at Magee Marsh

Northern Warterthrush

Seen at Corkscrew Swamp

Seen at Lake St. Clair

Ovenbird
Inclined to terrestrial pursuits, it was a pleasant surprise to see one perched:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen in the Bahamas

Palm Warbler
In breeding plumage, the russet cap and streaking look quite striking:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Pine Warbler

Seen at Port Huron SGA

Prothonotary Warbler
The "Golden Swamp" warbler is named for its golden hue:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Prairie Warbler
It is a sporadic breeder in Eastern Michigan:

Seen at Port Huron SGA

Swainson's Warbler
Although completely unrelated, this is our only warbler that could be mistaken for one of the Old World:

Seen at Great Dismal Swamp, VA

Tennessee Warbler
Seen in Florida, Ohio and Michigan:

Seen at Lake St. Clair Metorpark

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen at Sanibel Lighthouse

Wilson's Warbler
Seen in Ohio, Michigan and Arizona:

Seen at Magee Marsh

Seen at Florida Canyon

Seen at Lake St. Clair

Yellow-throated Warbler
Seen well in Ohio, Florida and the Dominican Republic:

Seen at Tigertail Beach

Seen at Magee Marsh

Yellow Warbler

Caribbean Warblers

Green-tailed Warbler
A poor shot, but a lifer nonetheless!

Seen at Ebano Verde, DR

Western Warblers

Black-throated Grey Warbler

Seen at Madera Canyon

Colima Warbler
A long-standing wish was fulfilled with the sighting of this hard-to-see warbler:

Seen at Big Bend NP

Golden-cheeked Warbler

Another Texas exclusive:

Seen at Friedrich Wilderness Park, San Antonio, TX

Grace's Warbler

Seen at Rose Canyon

Lucy's Warbler
The tiny Lucy's Warbler is our only dessert warbler:

Seen at Sabino Canyon

McGillivray's Warbler
The "Western version" of Mourning Warbler but with distinctive eye-crescents:

Seen at Florida Canyon

Orange-crowned Warbler
A humble but widespread warbler:

Seen at Bear Wallow

Olive Warbler
Has one of the loudest songs of any warbler:

Seen at Bear Wallow

Painted Redstart
Technically a "white start" as there is only white in its tail:

Seen at Madera Canyon

Red-faced Warbler
The "Holy Grail" of Western warblers:

Seen at Bear Wallow

Townsend's Warbler

Seen at Madera Canyon

Yellow-breasted Chat
The most "unwarbler" warbler:

Seen at Big Bend NP

What is Plume Hunting?

Plume hunting was big business in the late 1800's. Unfortunately, the dark side to the beauty of plumes led to the slaughter of millions of birds so women could wear fancy hats (Read about Plume Hunting).

Thankfully, in this age of digitization, we can capture most anything we want -- books, music, video, etc. -- digitally. And, with the advent of digital photography at the turn of the millennium, we can once again hunt for plumes -- but digitally; with none of the accompanying destruction. This blog is dedicated to capturing the beauty of nature reflected through the incredible diversity of our avifauna.

Reproduced below is ecofeminist Celia Thaxter's, "Woman’s Heartlessness" (Boston 1886; reproduced from Google Books) which was published at the time when plumes were worth their weight in gold and many species of birds were fast headed toward extinction:

WOMAN’S HEARTLESSNESS
By Celia Laighton Thaxter

When the Audubon Society was first organized, it seemed a comparatively simple thing to awaken in the minds of all bird-wearing women a sense of what their “decoration” involved. We flattered ourselves that the tender and compassionate heart of woman would at once respond to the appeal for mercy, but after many months of effort we are obliged to acknowledge ourselves mistaken in our estimate of that universal compassion, that tender heart in which we believed. Not among the ignorant and uncultivated so much as the educated and enlightened do we find the indifference and hardness that baffles and perplexes us. Not always, heaven be praised! But too often,--I think I may say in two-thirds of the cases to which we appeal. One lady said to me, “I think there is a great deal of sentiment wasted on the birds. There are so many of them, they will never be missed any more than mosquitoes. I shall put birds on my new bonnet.” This was a fond and devoted mother, a cultivated and accomplished woman. It seemed a desperate case, indeed, but still I strove with it. “Why do you give yourself so much trouble?” she asked. “They will soon go out of fashion, and there will be an end of it.” That may be,” I replied, “but fashion next year may order them back again, and how many women will have human feeling enough to refuse to wear them? It was merely waste of breath, however, and she went her way, a charnel-house of beaks and claws and bones and feathers and glass eyes upon her fatuous head.

Another, mockingly, says, “Why don’t you try to save the little fishes in the sea?” and continues to walk the world with dozens of warblers’ wings making her headgear hideous. Not one in fifty is found willing to remove at once the birds from her head, even if, languidly, she does acquiesce in the assertion that it is a cruel sin against nature to destroy them. “When these are worn out I am willing to promise not to buy any more,” is what we hear, and we are thankful, indeed, for even so much grace; but alas! birds never “wear out.” And as their wearer does not carry a placard stating their history, that they were bought last year, or perhaps given to her, and she does not intend to buy any more, her economy goes on setting the bad example, or it may be her indolence is to blame, one is as fatal as the other. Occasionally, but too rarely, we meet with a fine spirit, the fire of whose generous impulse consumes at once all selfish considerations, who recognizes the importance of her own responsibility, and whose action is swift as her thought to pluck our the murderous sign, and go forth free of its dishonor. And how refreshing is the sight of the birdless bonnet! The face beneath, no matter how plain it may be, seems to possess a gentle charm. She might have had birds, this woman, for they are cheap and plentiful enough, heaven knows! But she has them not, therefore she must wear within things infinitely precious,--namely, good sense, good taste, good feeling. Heaven bless every woman who dares turn her back on Fashion and go about thus beautifully adorned!

In one of the most widely circulated newspapers the fashionable news from Paris begins: “Birds are worn more than ever.” Birds “are worn!” Pitiful phrase! Sentence of deadly significance! “Birds are worn,”—as if that were final, as if all women must follow one another like a flock of sheep over a wall, and forget reason, forget the human heart within, forget everything but the empty pride of being “in the fashion.” Ah me, my fire-flecked oriole, watching your airy cradle from the friendly swinging elm bough, go get yourself an inky coat. Your beauty makes you but a target for the accursed gun that shatters your lovely life, quenches your delicious voice, destroys your love, your bliss, your dutiful cares, your whole beautiful being, that your dead body may disfigure some woman’s head and call all eyes to gaze at her! But no,--that will not save you. Blackbirds are not safe, they “are worn.” Carrion crows “are worn,” unsavory scavengers though they be. No matter on what they may have fed,--they “are worn.” Soar, swift sea-swallow,--I would it could be millions of miles away from the haunts of men; to the uttermost parts of the earth and the ocean carry your grace, your slender loveliness of shape, your matchless delicacy of tint and tone of color, soft, wondrous like gray cloud and silvery snow,--fly! dear and beautiful creature; seek the centre of the storm, the heart of the Arctic cold, the winter blast, they are not so unkind as—woman’s vanity. Do I not see you every day, your mocking semblance writhing as if in agony round female heads,--still and stark, sharp wings and tail pointing in stiff distress to heaven, your dried and ghastly head and beak dragged down to point to the face below, as if saying, “She did it.” The albatross of the Ancient Mariner is not more dreadful. Yesterday I saw three of you on one hat! Three terns at once, a horrible confusion of death and dismay.

Does any woman imagine these withered corpses (cured with arsenic) which she loves to carry about, are beautiful? Not so; the birds lost their beauty with their lives. Today I saw a mat woven of warblers' heads, spiked all over its surface with sharp beaks, set up on a bonnet and borne aloft by its possessor in pride! Twenty murders on one! and the face beneath bland and satisfied, for are not "Birds to be worn more than ever?" Flit, sandpiper, from the sea's margin to some loneliness remote and safe from the noble race of man! No longer in the soft May twilight call from cove to cove along the shore in notes that seem to breathe the very spirit of tender joy, of happy love, of sweet content; tones that mingle so divinely with the warm waves' murmur, with the south wind's balm, and sound in music through the dusk, long after the last crimson flash of sunset has faded from the sky year after year you come back to make your nest in the place you know and love, but you shall not live your humble, blissful, dutiful life, you shall not guard your treasured home, nor rejoice when your little ones break the silence with their first cry to you for food. You shall not shelter and protect and care for them with the same divine instinct you share with human mothers. No, some woman wants your corpse to carry on her head. You shall die that vanity, that "Fashion" may live.

I fear we no longer deserve these golden gifts of God. I would the birds could all emigrate to some friendlier planet peopled by a nobler race than ours, where they might live their sweet lives unmolested, and be treated with the respect, the consideration, and the grateful love which are their due. For we have almost forfeited our right to the blessing of their presence.

But still we venture to hope for a better future, still the Audubon and other societies work with heart and soul, to protect and save them, and we trust yet to see the day when women, one and all, will look upon the wearing of birds in its proper light,--namely, as a sign of heartlessness and a mark of ignominy and reproach.

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Saturday, December 20, 2014

2014 Year in Review: The Warblers (47 species)

Birding Arizona

Birding Australia

Birding the Caribbean

Birding India

Birding Florida

Birding California

Birding the Pacific Northwest

Birding Texas

Birding New Mexico

Birding the Midwest