![]() ![]() In most cases we can’t really hear the details of the individual notes, but we can hear the resulting “gestalt” differences in the overall tonal quality of the sound. ![]() The key for the birder trying to identify these songs is to practice hearing the finer details. The differences are there, and a Chipping Sparrow does not get confused by the songs of Pine Warblers or Dark-eyed Juncos. ![]() Each species sings a rapid series of very short phrases on a steady pitch, with almost nonexistent pauses between each phrase, and in our brain the sound runs together to form a continuous trill.īirds can hear a lot “faster” than we can, however, and consequently can extract a lot more information from the very rapid series of notes. There is simply very little information that we can glean from the songs to help us identify the singer. The simple trilled songs of species like Chipping Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco offer some of the most difficult, and most common, identification challenges in bird song. original gouache painting copyright David Sibley. The Daily Bird is edited by Tom Andersen.Chipping Sparrow. Greg Hanisek is editor of the Connecticut Warbler, the quarterly journal of the Connecticut Ornithological Association. Interesting fact: Pine Warblers are unusual among Wood-warblers in that both their breeding and wintering ranges lie almost entirely within the United States and Canada, although resident races are present in the Bahamas and on Hispaniola.Ĭonservation status: Listed as least concern by the IUCN. They’re more likely to be seen away from pine trees during fall migratory flights than at any other time of year. This is a hardy warbler that winters in North America, primarily in the Southeast, but a few winter in southern New England.īecause a few attempt to winter, they can be found throughout autumn, but their numbers dwindle after mid-October. Visit parks, land trust tracts, watershed properties or anywhere else with plenty of pines. Pine Warblers have little interest in planted groves of Norway Spruce or beautiful glens shaded by Eastern Hemlocks. The best way to find them is to do a little homework on evergreens. Other species of pines are favored elsewhere in their range through eastern North America. In Connecticut they breed primarily in Eastern White Pines, and that’s where you’ll hear their songs during the breeding season and often into fall. Where and how to find it: Pine Warblers live up to their common and scientific names - they’re very closely associated with pine trees. All are subject to variation, and learning them take plenty of practice. Its song is the highest and most insect-like of this group. In May another trill singer, the Worm-eating Warbler, comes into play. Juncos, which are gone from most of Connecticut during the warbler’s breeding season, have a looser, more erratic trill. When listening to a known Pine Warbler sing, keep this phrase in mind – “short and sweet.” Compared to the song of the Chipping Sparrow, the Pine Warbler’s is more musical and cuts off more abruptly. Juncos have begun to sing by the time Pine Warblers arrive on territory, and Chipping Sparrows are present during the Pine Warbler’s breeding season. What it sounds like (and which other birds sound like it): The song is a trill, but during the time Pine Warblers are singing two other common species, Chipping Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco, also sing trilled songs. They’re typically methodical rather than flitty in their movements, sometimes creeping along limbs and probing clumps of pine needles. It’s also worth noting that Pine Warblers are large and heavy-billed by warbler standards. At their dullest, probably as immature females in late summer/early fall, neither yellow nor green may be apparent, but the wing bars and unstreaked back remain. When puzzling over a bird with wing bars and yellow underparts, look for two key Pine Warbler features: a) an unstreaked back b) a yellow or pale extension of the throat curling up behind the ear coverts. Upper parts and ear coverts are olive green. The lower belly and long undertail coverts are white, and they have large white tail spots. The males are bright yellow from throat to belly with variable streaking on the breast sides. What it looks like: Pine Warblers range from bright yellow and green birds to non-descript brownish-gray creatures depending on age, sex and time of year. ApOf all the warblers that breed in Connecticut, the first to return in spring is the Pine Warbler, arriving in mid- to late March, just ahead of Louisiana Waterthrush. ![]()
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