This week in the woods has us admiring our great variety of warblers, either settling in for the summer or passing through for points north. The small, needle-billed, bug-eating neotropical migrants tend to reach us later than our other spring-migrating birds, but the yellow-rumped warbler has already been here in numbers for several weeks. Another early arrival and abundant bird, the black-and-white warbler, can show up when the trees remain bare; creeping along tree trunks and large branches, it probes for insects in crevices and under bark rather than gleaning them from leaves and so does not need to wait for leaf out. Its weesy weesy weesy weesy song, sometimes compared to a squeaky wheelbarrow, resembles the ovenbird’s escalating teacher teacher teacher teacher, except much thinner and higher pitched.
Secretive and shy, despite its volume, the ovenbird spends most of its time on the forest floor. Slower and more deliberate than the other, more hyperactive warblers, it wags its tail as it walks but does not deign to scratch at the leaf litter like most other ground-feeding birds, only taking its invertebrate food from above. With their olive upper parts, darkly patterned white breast, and eye rings that give them a bewildered look, ovenbirds might seem to have more in common with brown thrushes than with other warblers do; indeed, they even tend to occupy similar habitats. However, ovenbirds are smaller and have orange-brown crowns bordered with black stripes.
Like ovenbirds, common yellowthroats are more often heard than seen, hiding in dense thickets, but also reveal themselves in response to the psh-psh-psh sound a coaxing birder might make. Their loud witchity-witchity-witchity-witchity-wit song gives their presence away, as do their harsh chattering and husky chip note. In the summer, bandit-masked males perform an arching song flight over their territory, giving a sputtering of notes at the apex before dropping in silence to a low perch.
The Canada warbler seems to love accessories, with its black-spotted “necklace” its most striking feature and males sporting yellow “spectacles.” These birds prefer cool, moist, mature woodlands with lots of undergrowth and often settle close to the ground along streams. Their song is a loud, sputtering series of rich notes.
Tame, trusting, and easy to approach, the black-throated blue warbler might even seem like it wants to ask a question and start a conversation: its husky, buzzy zwee-zwee-zwee slurs upward at its end. The male retains its recognizable navy-blue plumage all year.
What have you noticed in the woods this week? Submit a recent photo for possible inclusion in our monthly online Reader Photo Gallery.