Warblers are on the move throughout the United States and Canada, migrating south for the winter. Though most warblers do not go to seed feeders, they do come to backyards that offer good habitat, food in the form of insects, and especially water. Like most birds they are not interested in manicured lawns which provide little to meet their needs or yards that use a lot of insecticides since they are insect eaters. They prefer layered vegetation–with tall trees,then shorter trees or large shrubs, then smaller shrubs.
The bird in the top two photos is a male Hooded Warbler, a very distinctive and boldly plumaged. With his yellow face and black hood, this male is easy to recognize when spotted. I think he is quite handsome! Like many bird species, the female is not as colorful or easily identified. These are birds of eastern United States.
Speaking of female birds, the one pictured above is a female MacGillivray’s Warbler. While not as brightly colored as the males of this species that have more contrasting slate gray hoods, she is still recognizable by the broken eye ring (like two semi-circles, one above and the other below the eye) that is distinctive to this species. Unlike the Hooded Warbler, this species is found in the west–from far western Canada down through western United States.
This last bird is a Northern Waterthrush–yes, a waterthrush is a warbler species. It is found more widely from Alaska through most of Canada into all of the eastern U.S. and some western states too. It looks larger than many warblers but it is only 6 inches in length, which makes it only 3/4 of an inch longer than the Hooded Warbler but a full 1 1/2 inches longer than the more petite MacGillivray’s Warbler.
Northern Waterthrush are often seen on banks of streams, rivers and ponds where they can be observed walking and bobbing their tails like Spotted Sandpipers. Yes, this bird prefers to walk rather than hop like most other warblers. If you notice the sparkle in the two photos of this bird please be aware I did not use flash, the sparkle is natural and produced when a little sunshine hits it. I use flash sparingly (I don’t like having a camera flash in my face so don’t want to do it birds either and I don’t like photos showing the light from a flash reflected in the bird’s eyes).
Even if you don’t think you will be visited by these or other migrating warblers, please keep some water out for the birds and other critters. It is so vital not only for those that need to drink it but for birds to bath to keep their feathers clean. And with the widespread drought, it may make the difference for some birds during their long migration.
Have you ever seen these warblers or have other warbler species visited your yard?