Connecticut Audubon Bird Finder for May 14: Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Setophaga tigrina
This week’s Bird Finder was written by Frank Gallo, Connecticut Audubon Society’s director of the Coastal Center at Milford Point.
Where to find it: Mid-May is the peak migration period for Cape May and many other warbler species within Connecticut. Cape May Warblers are a bird of the predominately evergreen northern boreal forests, whose numbers are tied to the abundance of spruce budworm, their primary summer food source. As with most migrants, they may be found in variety of habitats during migration, although, they are often found in evergreen trees, especially spruce, and in flowering trees. During migration, it is not unusual to find them feeding at the tops of isolated spruce trees in a residential neighborhood and cemeteries, or in tree farms, such as the one at our Smith Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary, rather than in larges stands of evergreens. Cape May Warblers have a unique tongue among warblers; it’s curled, almost tubular, allowing them to sip nectar, an important food source in winter and spring migration.
Well-known parks in which to search for Cape May and other warblers in spring include: East Rock and Edgewood Parks in New Haven, Mondo Pond and Wilcox Parks in Milford, Our Birdcraft Museum in Fairfield, the River Road in Kent, and our Pomfret Center where 21 species of warblers were recoded this week, including their third-ever Cape May Warbler. Four Cape May Warblers have been seen today and yesterday (May 13 and 14) feeding in a few spruce trees at the base of the Giant Steps off English Drive at East Rock Park, New Haven.
How to find it: Listen for them. Cape May’s characteristic song, a series of high thin “zeet” or “seet” notes, repeated 3-8 times, is often what alerts observers to their presence. Patience is usually required to get a clear view of a Cape May Warbler as they forage among the dense needles high in a spruce. During migration, always look and listen for groups of foraging migrant warblers; these mixed-species feeding flocks may contain a few less common species, such as Cape May or Bay-breasted Warblers.
What it looks like: Cape May Warblers are a small thin chickadee-sized bird, about 5 inches long. Breeding males are quite colorful; they have a dark olive crown, a black-streaked olive back, a bright yellow breast and flanks streaked with black, and a distinct rufous cheek (face) patch framed in bright yellow. The undertail is off-white. Their bill is thin and black, as are their legs. They show a prominent white wing covert patch, have white outer tail spots, and have a bright yellow or yellow-orange rump patch, similar to that of Yellow-rumped or Magnolia Warblers. Females have a similar overall pattern but are more drab, with a gray back, crown, and face patch replacing the olive and rufous combination of the male. They also show a pale greenish, rather than yellow, rump patch.
What if the bird isn’t there? Return at different times of the day. Birds are most active and vocal at dawn and the hour or two after, and again before dusk. Food availability is one of the driving forces during migration. Find a few places with good habitat and abundant food and visit them often. It’s been a fruitful and exciting week for Connecticut birders, who have been seeing warblers in abundance. We had 20 species at our Birdcraft Sanctuary on Saturday, for example. The New London Day published this story today about the warbler migration, quoting my colleague Andrew Griswold and me.
Connecticut Audubon Bird Finder is edited by Tom Andersen
Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Carolinabirds.org.
