![yellow rumped warbler winter plumage yellow rumped warbler winter plumage](https://avise-birds.bio.uci.edu/passeriformes/parulidae/geothlypis_trichas/images/1coye.jpg)
Quite abruptly, our yearly average of banded Pine Warblers dropped from ten to barely one. Then, in 1996, a farmer clearcut 60-plus acres of mature Loblolly Pines that adjoined our property and converted the land into pasture.
![yellow rumped warbler winter plumage yellow rumped warbler winter plumage](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WNc5T3P3-Rw/ToyS5oYlkgI/AAAAAAAAClk/DyaEFujgRPs/s1600/yr+warbler40+copy.jpg)
Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, Pine Warblers were quite common around Hilton Pond. As evidence, consider the following scenario. Pine Warblers are aptly named, for they prefer to nest and forage in piney woods, especially in the southeastern U.S. On rare occasions we see a Palm Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, or Common Yellowthroat after mid-October, but of the 34 warbler species we've banded locally, most are pretty much warm weather junkies that migrate through on their way to Mexico, Central America, or even South America. By far our most common cold-weather species is the Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, a bird that breeds across southern Canada and New England and winters primarily in the Southeast and Midwest. Pine Warblers aren't the only members of the Wood Warbler Family (Parulidae) to be found at Hilton Pond in winter. It's likely the majority of these were resident birds, although some fall and winter captures may have been migrants from the Great Lakes or Appalachian regions that flew no further south than the Carolina Piedmont. In addition to this week's winter capture, we've caught Pine Warblers during all seasons at Hilton Pond Center since 1982 we've banded 135 of them-mostly birds that were mist netted in spring and early summer. Adult male Pine Warblers have the brightest plumage and young females the dullest, so we're confident the bird illustrated here is a male. We should mention that there's a great deal of plumage variation in both American Goldfinches and Pine Warblers the warbler we caught this week was particularly bright, but we have captured individuals that were nearly gray. The Pine Warbler and American Goldfinch both have white tail spots, but in the warbler (below) they're on the two outermost tail feathers while ALL are spotted on the goldfinch. During winter, the goldfinch's rump and belly are mostly white, while in a Pine Warbler (below) only the belly is whitish. Interestingly, in older male goldfinches (above left), the lesser coverts are bright yellow and produce a yellow "shoulder" effect. While both species have two prominent white wingbars-the tips of the lesser and secondary covert feathers-much of the white in a goldfinch wing is actually on the tips and front edges of the primaries (the long flight feathers). (Note that female goldfinches have browner wings that are nearer in color to those of the Pine Warbler.)Ī closer look at both species, however, really shows there are as many differences as similarities, starting with the bill shape mentioned previously the overall body form is also different, with the goldfinch being a much chunkier bird. The Pine Warbler, Dendroica pinus, superficially resembled an American Goldfinch in winter plumage (adult male, below left) with its basic yellow color, dark wings, and white wingbars. Nonetheless, there he was, a bird with tapered, insect-eating bill fluttering around in a trap with 12 unrelated avian buddies that had conical bills adapted for seed-cracking.Īs I removed this baker's dozen of yellow birds from the trap, it was easy to see why novice birders sometimes have trouble differentiating one species from another. We're not sure if the warbler was having an identify crisis-after all, he was similar in color to the goldfinches-or if he had just developed a hankering for oilseed. We were reminded of winter warblers just this week when-accompanied by a bunch of American Goldfinches-a bright greenish-yellow Pine Warbler entered a trap baited with sunflower seeds. Or, it might remind one of a crisp autumn day when the offspring of those spring migrants start south on their first big flight, wearing drab colors that lead many of them to be called "confusing fall warblers." Seldom, however, does the word "warbler" drum up thoughts of ice and snow-even though a few warbler species can be found around Hilton Pond Center long after their Neotropical relatives are long gone. When folks in the Carolina Piedmont mention warblers, it usually conjures visions of a warm spring day with a southerly breeze and dozens of colorful treetop birds moving through on their way to breeding grounds up north.