Comments on: Our beautiful boreal habitat

By: sean o'brien

sean o'brien — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:03:18 +0000

Hi, I was one of the guys who saw the bird in question. It was just a normal Nashville. I got very close to the bird in order to record it(I don’t use playback) so I got a great look. The NY Breeding Bird Atlas from 1980-1985 mentions in the Wilson’s Warbler biography of a Nashville singing the song of a Wilson’s. I was with a friend doing a big day a few years back and at Big Cherry Patch Pond watched a Common Yellowthroat sing the complete song of a Lincoln’s Sparrow for a flight song and then float down doing the typical “whichity’s”. We watched from close range as the bird did it over and over. Mimicry is lot more common than originally thought. Maybe not as accomplished as say a mimid several species (White-eyed Vireo,Lesser and Lawrence’s Goldfinches, even Purple Finch, etc.)are known to mimic. We’ve a lot to learn.

By: Alan Gregory

Alan Gregory — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 21:17:58 +0000

I have wonderful memories of hiking through the Bloomingdale Bog a half-dozen times or more, and spotting boreal birds, like Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay and Olive-side Flycatcher.

By: catharus

catharus — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:16:40 +0000

Awesome Brian! Thanks for sharing!

By: Pat Jones

Pat Jones — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:07:17 +0000

Always a pleasure to read your blog. I’ll be up in your area on July 9 through 11. Maybe we’ll meet again.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:42:19 +0000

Great post, Brian. Birds are endlessly fascinating. I would have loved to see the Gray Jays with young!

By: Rich Merritt

Rich Merritt — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:31:44 +0000

Two years ago while we were doing our staff birdathon in Bloomingdale Bog we heard a Tennessee singing amongst the numerous Nashville Warblers. Having only seen a Tenny two or three times before I decided to take the time to locate it and was surprised and disappointed to find a Nashville singing a three-tiered tune. I guess now I’ll have to check all the Tennys closely to confirm.

By: Mark Damian

Mark Damian — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:42:52 +0000

Any photos of the singing bird? May have been a hybrid with some Tennessee genes. Encountering hybrid warblers in the field singing songs that belie their appearance seems to be on the increase, and no longer restricted to the winged warblers, with similar reports of aberrant Cerulean, Kentucky, and a number of species of flycatchers.

By: Dana Rohleder

Dana Rohleder — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:13:49 +0000

Another thing to consider – how often does a warbler actually hear its parents sing as a chick? Nesting birds are notoriously quiet, and breeding songs are not sung as much as during the pre-nesting stage – at least not close to the nest. I suppose an anxious Tennessee Warbler neighbor could easily have been the nestling/fledgeling’s first major encounter with song. There are also accounts of inter-specific adults caring for young. It would really be nice to know…

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:07:17 +0000

Something that helps me to learn the song is, if I can see the bird singing, then that reinforces the learning of the song because I now have an image of that bird singing. This is probably not unlike a young bird learning a song by watching a parent sing.

By: BRFVolpe

BRFVolpe — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:10:10 +0000

Oh for an ear and recognition like yours, Brian.