Monthly Archives: May 2018

Cape May warbler part of an intriguing songbird family native to New World

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • While the Cape May warbler doesn’t breed locally, these warblers are fairly common spring and fall migrants in the region.

A small songbird, less than six inches in length, sang a series of shrill note as it flitted from branch to branch about 40 feet off the ground in a tall tree. A group of about 20 birders lifted their binoculars and reacted with excitement when they focused on the bundle of yellow, black, orange and white feathers.

The unexpected discovery — a Cape May warbler — kicked off a bird walk held at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park in Elizabethton, Tennessee, on May 12. The date deliberately coincided with this year’s observation of International Migratory Bird Day.

This special day is set aside once a year as a conservation initiative to raise awareness about conserving migratory birds and their habitats throughout the Western Hemisphere. This program is dedicated to international conservation efforts and environmental education in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

The Cape May warbler wasn’t the only warbler found on the morning walk. Like bookends, a sighting of a blackpoll warbler, a long-distance migrant with black and white feathers, took place near the conclusion of the walk with the same level of excitement that the discovery of the Cape May warbler generated at the walk’s start.

Slightly fewer than half of the world’s 116 warbler species make their home in North America for only a few months out of the year. The others range throughout the Caribbean, as well as Central and South America. Most of them are noted for leading fast-paced, energetic lives. For that very reason, warblers pose a challenge for people wishing to draw them closer by peering at them through binoculars.

Several dozen species of warblers pass through Southwest Virginia, Northeastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina each spring. Some of these birds end their journey in the region, content to build nests and raise young in the Appalachian Mountains and surrounding valleys and foothills. Springtime offers a great opportunity to glimpse many of these small, energetic and often colorful songbirds. It’s always an exciting and memorable moment to focus my binoculars on species ranging from Blackburnian warbler and common yellowthroat to bay-breasted warbler and Northern parula.

Becoming a dedicated “warbler watcher” is a bit of a challenge for several reasons. At the top of the list is the aforementioned pace of the average warbler’s lifestyle. These birds are constantly in motion. Observing and identifying warblers is sometimes accomplished one glimpse at a time while tilting one’s neck back at impossible angles to focus binoculars on tiny birds only a few inches long as they flit through the treetops. Get enough glimpses of that bird skillfully hiding behind autumn foliage and you’ll soon learn to identify the individual species.

Entire field guides have been written offering helpful hints and emphasizing characteristic field marks to make the task of spotting and identifying these birds somewhat simpler, especially for beginners. In birding, there are other challenging families of birds, including shorebirds and sparrows. These others are often studies in subtlety. For the most part, however, warbler’s aren’t subtle. Many of them sport bright and gorgeous plumage in shades of yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black. Each species has unique patterns, including facial markings, wing bars (or lack thereof) and other signature traits. Some have unusual behaviors that are diagnostic, such as the up-and-down “tail pumping” of a Northern waterthrush or palm warbler or the tail fanning of an American redstart or female hooded warbler.

The Cape May warbler observed at the spring bird walk most likely spent the winter months in such far-flung locations as the Caribbean, although a few of these warblers migrate only as far south as southern Florida. I saw my first Cape May warbler during a trip in the Bahamas back in January of 1999, years before I ever saw this species locally. In its wintering grounds, the Cape May warbler is known for a love of fruit. It also uses a tubular tongue — an oddity among warblers — to sip nectar from flowers and sugar water from feeders intended for hummingbirds.

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Alexander Wilson

The Tennessee Watchable Wildlife website explains the origins of this warbler’s common name, which refers to Cape May, New Jersey, the locality where early American naturalist Alexander Wilson first described the species. Interestingly, according to the website, it was not recorded again in Cape May for more than 100 years.

The Cape May warbler is one of the warblers that does not cut short its migration to nest locally. Instead, it spends the nesting season in the spruce forests of Canada and the northern United States. It’s spring passage is usually brief, providing a window of opportunity of only two to three weeks to see this dazzling little bird. Fortunately, Cape May warblers migrate back through the region in the fall, usually at a somewhat less hectic pace.

The Cape May warbler’s scientific name — Setophaga tigrina — identifies the bird as a member of the genus Setophaga and also refers to the black striping against its yellow-orange breast that prompted early naturalists to describe this warbler as “tiger striped.”

The Cape May warbler is dependent on spruce budworms, caterpillars of a family of moths that feeds on spruce needles. When the caterpillars are abundant, Cape May warblers shift their nesting efforts into overdrive. As a result, reproductive success for these warblers is sometimes a matter of feast or famine, depending on the abundance of spruce budworms in the forests where they make their home during the nesting season. The size of the clutch of eggs these warblers lay is even dependent on the presence of these caterpillars. When these larval moths are numerous in a forest, the Cape May warbler may lay as many as nine eggs. In years offering less abundance, a clutch of four eggs is more common.

Other warblers I’ve seen around my home and on birding trips this year have included common yellowthroat, yellow-throated warbler, Northern parula, Blackburnian warbler, American redstart, and black-throated green warbler. Many warblers still continue to migrate through the region during the month of May. As mentioned earlier, some of them will also settle in the region long enough to nest before heading back south in the autumn.

In the eastern United States, I’ve seen all the expected warblers save for a handful of species. I’ve never seen a Connecticut warbler, a species notorious for being elusive and hard to spot, or a cerulean warbler. Two endangered species — the Kirtland’s warbler, with a narrow range in Michigan, and the golden-cheeked warbler of Texas — remain future targets for observation. But, when it comes to warblers, I’m always enchanted by these birds, whether I’m seeing them for the hundredth time or the first. So, get outdoors during the month of May and try your own luck at getting a glimpse into the world of warblers. You may find yourself as captivated by them as I am.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A Cape May warbler forages in the branches of a small tree.

 

Male scarlet tanager stands out from other birds

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Photo by Jeana Chapman • A male scarlet tanager forages close to the ground, which is not typical behavior for these birds. Tanagers, although brightly colored, spend most of their time in the tree canopy obscured from view.

I received an email from Lewis and Jeana Chapman detailing a dazzling discovery they made.

The couple have been adding a few new birds to their bird list and decided to give me an update on what they’ve been seeing. The Chapmans reside in the community of Laurel Bloomery in Johnson County, Tennessee. The wooded slopes of Pond Mountain where they make their home provide an attractive location for migrating birds, as well a summer residents.

“The tree swallows returned this spring to nest in our bluebird box,” Lewis wrote in his email reporting his new sightings. “The great crested flycatcher has moved its nest from the front porch to the barn. Last year the flycatchers raised five chicks on the front porch. The nest got so full the chicks were perched around the edge.”

Some new additions to their list have included golden-crowned kinglet and the Northern flicker. “Most recently we spotted a scarlet tanager,” Lewis continued.

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Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter A male scarlet tanager brightens shadowy woodlands with a flash of tropical colors yet remains mostly inconspicuous in the forest canopy.

They had never seen a scarlet tanager at their home. Over the years I have heard from other readers left stunned by the tropical beauty of the male scarlet tanager. That description would not be that far off. While the scarlet tanager resides in the United States and Canada from April to October each year, this bird spends the rest of the year in South America. Citizens of the United States and Canada get the better part of the bargain when it comes to hosting this bird. After the summer nesting season, male scarlet tanagers lose their brilliant red plumage and look more like the greenish females. By the time they get back to the tropics for the winter, this striking bird has transformed into a rather drab specimen.

I’ve written in previous columns about the scarlet tanager, which is one of those birds that always takes an observer’s breath away upon first seeing it. Of course, it’s the male scarlet tanager that bewitches observers with his dazzling feathers of vivid red and jet black. Female and immature tanagers are a dull olive-yellow in coloration with dark wings and tails.

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A female scarlet tanager is a study in contrast from her mate with her dull greenish-yellow plumage being much less vibrant than the male’s bright red and black feathers.

During their summer stay in the region, scarlet tanagers largely prey on insects. Although renowned as a fruit-eating bird, the scarlet tanager primarily feeds on fruit during its migration flights and on its wintering range in the tropics. This tanager breeds in deciduous and mixed deciduous-evergreen woodlands across the eastern half of North America. I’ve often heard that oaks are a favorite tree for this woodland dweller.

It’s unlikely that you’ll run across the nest of a scarlet tanager. These birds nest high in trees, often locating their nests 50 feet or more above the ground. After building a nest, a female tanager will incubate her three to five eggs for about two weeks. It’s during this time that her inconspicuous appearance is a plus, helping her blend well with her surroundings. After the young hatch, the parents are kept busy feeding the nestlings for another 10 to 15 days.

The website All About Birds notes that the population of scarlet tanagers has declined in the last half-century. Between 1966 and 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, scarlet tanager numbers declined by 14 percent. The environmental organization Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 2.2 million, with 93 percent of these birds spending some part of the year in the United States and the other seven percent breeding in Canada. These birds do poorly in forests that have been harvested for lumber. Other causes of habitat fragmentation probably also affect the well-being of scarlet tanagers. It’s worth keeping an eye out for any other signs of decline in this beautiful birds.

The scarlet tanager is a fairly common songbird during the summer months, but it also has a less common relative that can be found in northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia and western North Carolina. The male summer tanager is the only entirely red bird found in North America. Lacking the scarlet tanager’s black wings, the summer tanager’s red feathers are also of a rosier hue.

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Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter The Summer Tanager is the only all-red bird in North America. It is less common in Northeast Tennessee than the related Scarlet Tanager.

 

While I have seen summer tanagers in Tennessee on occasion, most recently at Steele Creek Park in Bristol, Tennessee, I saw my first summer tanager during a spring trip to South Carolina many years ago. Overall, the summer tanager has more of a southern stronghold than the scarlet tanager, as the summer tanager’s range also extends into the southwestern United States.

Both of these tanagers are birds fond of dense, undisturbed woodlands. Most of the time, unfortunately, these tanagers reside in the dense woodland canopy. They’re more often heard than seen, producing a song similar to an American robin’s, but usually described as somewhat more raspy. The apt description I like for these two tanagers is that their songs sound like one sung by a hoarse robin with a sore throat.

Some of the world’s other tanagers are known by extremely descriptive names, including seven-colored tanager, flame-colored tanager, lemon-rumped tanager, green-headed tanager, golden-chevroned tanager, azure-shouldered tanager, fawn-breasted tanager, metallic-green tanager, emerald tanager, gilt-edged tanager, golden-naped tanager, opal-crowned tanager, blue-gray tanager and silver-beaked tanager.

The tanager wasn’t the only unexpected feathered visitor to the Chapman home this spring. The same week the tanager made its appearance, a male hooded warbler also visited with the Chapmans. “This we found ironic because of your email address,” Lewis wrote. For readers who may not have noticed, my email address is ahoodedwarbler@aol.com. I’ve used this email address for many years to celebrate one of my favorite birds.

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Photo by Lewis Chapman • A male hooded warbler also impressed the Chapmans during this small songbird’s recent visit.

The Chapmans also provided me with photos of all their colorful birds. In subsequent emails, they also informed me of some other unusual visitors. “One of our strangest visitors was an albino American goldfinch,” Lewis also revealed in his email. “Over this past weekend, we had rose-breasted grosbeak and indigo bunting show up.”

Many of these birds — the rose-breasted grosbeak, the scarlet tanager, the indigo bunting — always wow observers experiencing their first observation of them. Our two native tanagers — scarlet and summer — are definitely two memorable birds for anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing one. It’s a great time of year to get outdoors and keep your eyes open for a splash of bright color. You never know what you may see when you lift your binoculars.

 

White-faced ibis creates birding stir with rare visit to region

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When I awoke on April 19, I didn’t expect that I’d end up seeing a new state bird before the day ended. Thanks to timely notices of a new bird sighting by email, I used my work break to drive to Elizabethton, Tennessee, to see a white-faced ibis at the Carter County Rescue Squad pond. The opportunity for unexpected appearances by birds like the white-faced ibis is why I love spring migration.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • The red eye of this white-faced ibis allowed observers to confirm the identity of the bird. The similar glossy ibis does not have red eyes.

Tom McNeil spotted the bird at a much larger pond on the campus of Northeast State Community College in Elizabethton. After he reported the bird, I was able to use a work break to travel to the location and find the bird nearby at the smaller pond, where several area birders had already arrived. The ibis had moved to this smaller pond after departing the larger pond where it was first detected.

This is only the second record of a white-faced ibis for Northeast Tennessee.

The white-faced ibis is a widespread wading bird, nesting from the western United States and Canada south through Mexico, as well as from southeastern Brazil and southeastern Bolivia south to central Argentina, and along the coast of central Chile.

I saw white-faced ibises for the first time during a trip to Utah in May of 2006. The state had enjoyed a spring with ample rainfall, and every flooded field and pasture contained flocks of these distinctive wading birds. These flooded fields provided temporary habitat for numerous other birds, including cinnamon teal and Wilson’s phalarope.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A flooded field in northern Utah near the border with Wyoming provided foraging habitat for this white-faced ibis.

The white-faced ibis is almost identical in appearance to the glossy ibis, which is the most widespread ibis in the world. The glossy ibis ranges across six continents, absent only from Antarctica. In the United States, the glossy ibis ranges mostly along the southern Atlantic coastal area. I have observed this bird at several locations in South Carolina.

The similar appearances of white-faced and glossy ibis presents challenges to identification, which was the case with this recent visitor. The bird found in Elizabethton lacked the white plumage in the face that gives the species its common name. Fortunately, the bird did plainly show one physical trait — red eyes — that easily distinguishes it from the related glossy ibis. Sometimes, all it takes to clinch an identification is a simple physical characteristic such as, in this case, a red eye.

A third ibis native to North America is the white ibis. The Audubon Society identifies the white ibis as one of the most numerous wading birds in Florida, but the bird is common also in other parts of the southeast with appropriate wetland habitat. Like the wood stork, the ibis has declined in Florida in recent decades largely as a result of human encroachment.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A white ibis forages for food by probing in water and mud.

The white ibis looks like a humorously absurd bird that could have been invented by Dr. Seuss. The extravagant, all-white plumage is contrasted by pinkish-orange legs, an extremely long, downcurved, reddish-pink bill and bright blue eyes. In flight, the white ibis shows black feathers on the edges of its wings.

I’ve seen white ibises in Tennessee as well as in South Carolina and Florida. In the Sunshine State, another relative — the unmistakable scarlet ibis — is sometimes observed in the wild. The scarlet ibis inhabits tropical South America and islands of the Caribbean, but the species if often held in zoos and other attractions. Escaped birds rather than strays are often the source of sightings in Florida of this vibrant scarlet-feathered ibis.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A glossy ibis flock feeds in a wetland located at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina.

All ibises have long, downcurved bills. These birds usually feed in small flocks, probing wetlands for prey such as crustaceans, small fish, amphibians, insects, and various invertebrates. Worldwide, there are about 34 species of ibis, including the red-naped ibis, black-faced ibis, green ibis, straw-necked ibis and African sacred ibis, which is the bird often depicted in tombs and other monuments of ancient Egypt. This ibis was associated with the Egyptian god, Thoth, who was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis.

The brief visit from the white-faced ibis provides a good reminder that we’re in the midst of spring migration. Stay alert for those unexpected birds. You never know what you might see.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • The white-faced ibis found in Elizabethton, Tennessee, is shown walking past a domestic duck and a mallard.

Readers continue to report hummer arrivals

A few other readers have shared their first spring hummingbird sightings.
• Bunny Medeiros of Abingdon, Virginia sent me an email to announce her first sighting. “To my delight, the day after I put out my feeder a hummer appeared,” she wrote. The bird, a male, made his appeared on April 14.
• Rhonda Eller of Chilhowie, Virginia, saw her first ruby-throated hummingbird of spring on April 18. “Surely spring is going to come and stay!” Rhonda predicted on her post of my Facebook page.

Bird survey seeks volunteers

The Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas is getting ready for a third year of surveying the state’s birds. The atlas is a citizen science project, and volunteers conduct most of the key data collection. Organizers are hopeful that Virginia’s strong birding community will partner with the Virginia Ornithological Society and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to accomplish the largest bird conservation effort in the state to date.
“This is our third year, and we can always use more volunteers to participate,” said Steven Hopp with Environmental Studies at Emory and Henry College. “Our region down here in the corner is one of the least-covered areas of the state.”
Anyone interested in participating and learning more about the atlas is welcome to email Hopp at shopp@ehc.edu.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • The white-faced ibis probed the edge of a pond in its search for food, occasionally catching and consuming tadpoles.

Hummingbirds not the only birds returning to region as spring migration advances

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A Ruby-throated Hummingbird perches on a sugar water feeder.

A voiceover for a promotional trailer for an upcoming movie in the Jurassic Park franchise asks the question “Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?” and answers it with the sentence “The first time you see them, it’s like a miracle!”

Obviously, dinosaurs aren’t walking the earth — except in this highly successful movie franchise — although experts maintain that dinosaurian descendants (birds) still roam the world.

Dinosaurs, of course, have impressed humans with immense size ever since their enormous fossils began to be uncovered. Hummingbirds also impress with size, or rather the lack of it. It’s that tiny size that has prompted people to describe them as “miracles” from the time the first European explorers sailed to the New World in the late 1400s. When Spanish explorers first encountered them, they had no equivalent birds in Europe to use as a reference. They referred to hummingbirds as “joyas voladoras,” or flying jewels.

So, how many remember their first sighting of a hummingbird? These tiny birds, still accurately and often described as flying gems, are worthy of the word “miracle” being used to define them. When we see the ruby-throated hummingbirds return to the region every spring, our belief in miracles is strengthened.

I still have readers sharing reports of their first hummingbird sightings this spring.

• Marty Huber and Jo Ann Detta in Abingdon, Virginia, sent me an email about their first spring hummingbird sighting.

They reported that they got their first look at a spring hummingbird on April 18 at 5:04 p.m. “We were excited and have been looking since the beginning of the month,” they wrote. “Last year we didn’t see our first until April 23.”

• Ed and Rebecca Feaster of Piney Flats, Tennessee, put out their feeders after reading one of my columns earlier in April.

“We are happy to report that we saw a little female ruby-throated hummer on the morning of April 20,” they wrote in their email. “We were thankful to offer her nectar as she seemed very, very hungry!”

The Feasters noted that they have been in the Tri-Cities area for three years.

They had previously lived more than 20 years in the Roanoke Valley. “Birders in that area said to look for the hummers to arrive when the azaleas bloom,” they wrote. “The same seems to hold true here as the ones around our home began to blossom just a couple days ago.”

• Jane Arnold, a resident of Bristol, Virginia, sent me an email about her first hummer sighting.

“Just wanted to let you know that my first hummer of the year arrived at 10:20 a.m. Saturday, April 21,” she wrote. “I was so excited to see him! I had taken my feeder out to hang (it was sitting on a table) and [the hummingbird] flew to it.”

• Don and Donna Morrell emailed me with their first hummingbird sighting of spring. “My wife Donna and I saw our first hummingbirds on April 22,” Don wrote.

The Morrells saw both a male and female hummingbird. “We are located behind South Holston Dam,” Don added. “We are glad our friends are back. Also on that same day we saw an eagle and white crane.”

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A migrating Great Egret makes a stop at a golf course pond.

Most likely the white crane was a great egret, which is also migrating through the region right now. Although often called cranes, egrets are part of the family of wading birds that includes herons. North America’s true cranes are the endangered whooping crane and the sandhill crane.

• Facebook friend Sherry Thacker reported a first sighting of a ruby-throated hummingbird on April 22.

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Photo Courtesy of Helen Whited • A Baltimore Oriole visits a feeder “baited” with an orange slice.

“It came looking at the thistle seed feeder that is red,” she reported. “I had not put up the sugar water feeder, but I did today.”

Sherry reported seeing some beautiful hummingbirds last year.

Of course, we are in the midst of spring migration, which means hummingbirds are hardly the only new arrivals.

• Helen Whited in Abingdon, Virginia, has seen two very brightly-colored species of birds pass through her yard this spring. On April 17, her feeders were visited by male rose-breasted grosbeaks. “I am so excited to see my first grosbeaks,” she shared in an email that also contained a photo featuring two of the visiting grosbeaks. On April 21, Helen sent me another email with a photo of a male Baltimore oriole visiting a specially designed feeder made to hold orange slices to attract fruit-loving orioles. Grosbeaks and orioles are two migrant species of birds that deliver splashes of tropical color to the region each year.

Helen had prepared for the visit by the Baltimore oriole. In an email from last year, she had told me that her husband had promised her an oriole feeder for her birthday. I’m glad she’s been able to report success in bringing one of these bright orange and black birds to her yard.

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Photo Courtesy of Helen Whited • A pair of Rose-breasted grosbeaks take turns visiting a feeder.

• Anita Huffman of Rugby, Virginia, saw a male rose-breasted grosbeak on April 22. She reported her sighting on Bristol-Birds, a network for sharing postings about bird observations in the region.

• John Harty, a resident of Bristol, Tennessee, sought my help with identifying a new bird in his yard. Based on his description of the bird — the shape of a robin, reddish-brown coloration and a taste for suet cakes at John’s feeder — I suggested that his bird was probably a brown thrasher.

Brown thrashers returned to my home in late March and almost immediately sought out my suet feeders. Other recent arrivals have included several warblers — hooded, black-throated green and black-and-white — as well as tree swallows, which immediately got down to the business of selecting a nesting box. All of these birds nest in the gardens and woods around my home.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • Brown Thrasher perched in a Mimosa Tree.

Some birds, however, announce their arrival not with bright colors but with beautiful songs. On April 23, I listened as a wood thrush sang its flute-like song from the edge of the woods just outside my bedroom window. The sweet song of this thrush is one of my favorite sounds of spring.

Every bird is a miracle, whether you’re seeing or hearing them for the first time or welcoming them back for another spring and summer season.

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Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service • The Wood Thrush often sings its flute-like song from deep under cover in dense woodlands.