One More Warbler

tanjabrittonwriter 51 Comments

The idea of a blog post about warblers was already fermenting in the gyri of my brain when I read Linda Leinen’s excellent post about the sculpture of an Eskimo Curlew she had seen on Galveston Island in Texas. Now a curlew is not a warbler and apart from both belonging to the class Aves, the birds have not much in common. But the sighting of an Eskimo Curlew on Galveston Island in 1959 was a seminal event in the life of a birder whose 2017 One More Warbler: My Life with Birds, also featured prominently in Linda’s essay.

I have since ordered the book from the library, read it, and shamelessly stolen its title for my post from a fellow birder who loves birds as I love birds and who, like me, is particularly enamored of black and white birds.

But there the similarities between the author and me end. Victor Emanuel, born in 1940, was fortunate enough to catch the birding bug as a child, whereas I didn’t see the light until my late 40s. He grew up along the Texas coast, which sees multiple dozens of warbler species each spring and autumn during migration. My “birding career” has been mostly limited to Colorado (apart from small areas in a few other southwestern US states and Germany during occasional visits), where about ten-plus different kinds of warblers occur regularly each year, with others appearing sporadically. While he has seen all of North America’s 50+ warbler species repeatedly, I’m only acquainted with 35, with too many of the encounters consisting of a single glimpse.

Unlike Mr. Emanuel, I will never be able to add the Eskimo Curlew to my life list as it was last sighted in 1964 and, sadly, is now considered extinct (though no official declaration has yet been made). He has traveled the world in search of as many bird species as he could find. His far-reaching explorations were made possible by Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT), a nature guiding company he founded in 1976, during a time when people did not think about their carbon footprints. Mr. Emanuel’s life list comprises “more than six thousand species of birds,” but this baby birder’s is stuck at a small fraction of it.

While I would love to journey across the globe and immerse myself in its glorious avifauna, my dream will need to remain unfulfilled. In this day and age, when we daily see the ravages of a world out of kilter, I find it hard to justify this kind of travel for anybody who cares about our earth, even if it’s embellished as ecotourism. I am fully aware that this statement will raise hackles (or should I say neck feathers?), but I don’t understand how we can continue to live as if there were no tomorrow. Birders, of all people, should be aware of how our lifestyles imperil the very creatures we purport to love. Humankind will not solve this climate crisis without each of us making personal sacrifices.

Mr. Emanuel’s fascination with warblers has been long-lived. In chapter 1 of his book, “Early Days,” he tells the reader that one of his mentors, the legendary-in-birding-circles Edgar Kincaid Jr., liked to bestow nicknames on fellow birders and Victor eventually chose “Hooded Warbler” for his. In time, he became simply known as “Warbler.“ He explains, “I love all warblers. It seemed appropriate for me because, like warblers, I don’t stay in one spot for very long. I’m somewhat peripatetic and full of energy.”

Chapter 20, titled “My True Obsession,” contains the author’s following musings:

I can’t explain why I became obsessed with these small birds, but warblers have helped me understand the nature of obsession. It’s an interesting concept to contemplate. When some behavior or object begins to dominate certain aspects of your life in such a way that you can’t get enough of it. Paul Woodruff told me once that most people don’t understand the notion of “enough.” They always want more—more money, more love, more friends, more property, more things. Paul’s point was that it’s important to recognize when you do have enough of something. I definitely have a very clear idea of what enough is in most aspects of my life, but not when it comes to warblers. I can never see enough warblers. They have brought much pleasure and richness into my life.

He is not alone in his obsession with warblers. Kenn Kaufman, in his field guide Birds of America, introduces Wood-Warblers (family Parulidae) as follows:

Small, active birds that often hide among foliage, warblers may go unnoticed by many people. But most experienced birders love the warblers, and look forward to their spring arrival as one of the highlights of the year…Warblers offer wonderful diversity (with more than 50 species in North America), bright colors, and beautiful patterns…Learning how to identify all the fall warblers can be an absorbing challenge. Although most warblers are brightly patterned and flit about in trees, some have more solid colors and skulk in dense cover close to the ground. There also some brownish warblers that walk on the ground.

The name warbler, as you might have guessed, refers to the warbling song performed by most of these birds.

My first group of photos shows some of the warblers I see in a typical year, either because they migrate along Colorado’s Front Range or because they breed here (how many more years will by “typical” is questionable). Of note, “most warblers go to the tropics in winter: some to Mexico and Central America, other to the Caribbean, others even going to South America. Some of those that nest the farthest north are among those that winter the farthest to the south, migrating thousands of miles” (Kenn Kaufman).

As a reminder, most of these avian migrants weigh less than half an ounce (less than 15 g)!

To enlarge a photo, click on it. To read its caption, hover cursor over it.

Male Yellow Warbler/Männlicher Goldwaldsänger
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon)/Kronenwaldsänger
Black-and-white Warbler/Kletterwaldsänger
Male Common Yellowthroat/Männlicher Weidengelbkehlchen
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)/Kronenwaldsänger
Male MacGillivray’s Warbler/Männlicher Dickichtwaldsänger
Townsend’s Warbler/Townsendwaldsänger
Male Wilson’s Warbler/Männlicher Mönchswaldsänger
Orange-crowned Warbler/Orangefleck-Waldsänger
Northern Waterthrush/Drossselwaldsänger
Ovenbird/Pieperwaldsänger

In the second collection, I’m featuring warblers considered rare in this part of the country, usually eastern warblers who have strayed to the western states (the eastern parts of North America show a wider variety than the western, with many warblers migrating along the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways). Despite my limited selection and less-than-satisfying quality of some images, I think the array of birds demonstrates why so many people are agog about wood warblers and center their birding year around attempting to see as many of them as possible.

Male Magnolia Warbler/Männlicher Magnolienwaldsänger
Prairie Warbler/Rotmantel-Waldsänger
Male Palm Warbler/Männlicher Palmenwaldsänger
1st Winter Chestnut-sided Warbler/Gelbscheitel-Waldsänger im ersten Winter
1st Winter female Northern Parula/Weiblicher Meisenwaldsänger im ersten Jahr
Male Blackpoll Warbler/Männlicher Streifenwaldsänger
Black-throated Gray Warbler/Trauerwaldsänger
Male Black-throated Blue Warbler/Männlicher Blaurückenwaldsänger
Male Hooded Warbler/Männlicher Kapuzenwaldsänger

Incidentally, my sole new warbler this year was the handsome fellow featured in the photo at the top of the page, and again at the bottom: a male Hooded Warbler, one that Mr. Emanuel used to identify with. And what’s not to like? As luck (or fate) would have it, a representative of this species appeared in not one, but two locations in El Paso County this year (at Chico Basin Ranch and Rock Ledge Ranch, both destinations I visit regularly), and I was fortunate enough to see both of them. With fall migration about to start soon, it’s cheering to imagine that I might come face to face with one more warbler.

51 thoughts on “One More Warbler”

  1. Thank you for this thoughtful and impassioned essay, Tanja, illustrated with a batch of lovely photos. A veritable wealth of warblers! I share your hope that the changing of the seasons will bring both new and familiar species back to your birding “patch.” Enjoy!

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  5. Beautiful captures, Tanja, and warblers aren’t easy to capture as they are always moving! These songbirds add so much joy to my spring/early summer with their beautiful songs. A world without them doesn’t bear imagining!

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  7. I’m with you all the way about limiting traveling as well as other things such as eating meat to help lessen our carbon output. With the world burning and flooding, it can’t be business as usual.

    On a happier note…those warblers are little beauties, and I am so glad you got to see and photograph the Hooded Warbler. Not once but twice!

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    • Thank you, Laurie. I’m dejected by how many people continue to live as if it didn’t matter, even if they have children and grandchildren. I think humans are masters in denial, and my greatest fear is that it will be too late when we finally wake up to the realities.

      But we have to keep enjoying those happier notes while they still exist.

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  10. Always fun to read about a place you are quite familiar with. We spend our Januaries up and down the Texas Gulf Coast and the RGV. Every year we make a stop at the Galveston Island SP and after hunting for the Rails that are almost always hanging out on the boardwalks before it, always get a selfie at that statue. Wonderful set of warblers – the Hooded can be a chore to get a picture of as they rummage through the underbrush.

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    • Thanks for the tip about the Rails. I finally figured out why it’s called the Rail Trail, and I’m looking forward to a little more exploring there when there’s a little less heat. It’s such fun to find other bloggers who’ve seen the same things I have!

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    • As we have discussed before, visiting the Texas Gulf Coast is still a dream for me, but I’m glad you could relate to some of the places mentioned.
      Both Hooded Warblers were often higher in the trees than is typical for them, and I wonder if it has to do with their being out of their normal range. Both males were very vocal, no doubt hoping to attract a female. Sadly, none was around.

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  11. Beautiful set of photos, Tanja! Mr. Emanuel would be proud of you! I’ve seen most of these–briefly usually–during spring migration through Austin. I still haven’t read his book, but it’s on my to-read list. Our local Audubon group (Travis County Audubon) has an annual fundraiser in his name. I believe he lives in Austin.

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    • Thank you, Tina. I actually wonder if Mr. Emanuel would take umbrage at my post. While I completely understand how appealing it is to travel the world in an attempt to see most of its avifauna (or to explore different cultures), it’s hard for me to imagine how anyone can still justify it, considering how all ecosystems are in a freefall.

      I hope you will enjoy the book once you get to it. It’s my understanding that Mr. Emanuel grew up near Houston, then moved to Austin. He also owns a place on the Bolivar Peninsula, which sounds like a piece of paradise (if those still exist).

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  12. I meant to ask in my earlier response, Tanja…you say that you didn’t “catch the birding bug” until your late 40s, but was it one particular event/encounter that helped you “see the light” or was it perhaps a gradual, maybe even imperceptible process? It’s none of my business, obviously, but I’m curious to understand how your obvious passion for our feathered friends – as illustrated in this fascinating post – first began!

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    • I often wonder about this, Mr. P. While we lived in Alaska when I was in my 30s and early 40s, I really enjoyed the colorful waterfowl and seabirds we saw (puffins in particular), but I didn’t go out of my way to look for them.

      After we moved to Colorado, I joined some guided tours and when I slowly began to recognize some birds on my own, that triggered something inside of me. I haven’t looked back since, and am eternally grateful that it happened.

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  13. Beautiful images, Tanja.

    I can well imagine how hard the warblers are to capture in a photo. So tiny and yet so colourful.

    They almost look like some of our Australian birds.

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    • Thank you, Vicki. They are mostly a hyperactive bunch and I have had to delete many photos. Many serious photographers wouldn’t be satisfied with my photos, but I’m happy to have some portraits to remember the warblers by.
      I will keep enjoying your Australian birds vicariously through your images.

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  16. So, you piqued my interest, Tanja, because I can only think of one warbler I’ve ever seen, the Yellow Warbler. (Quite pathetic, huh?) A quick check on the Mass Audubon site informs me that I have missed the other 34 that live or pass through here. Warblers are now on my to-do list for the fall migration.
    Thanks for the lovely post,
    Julie

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  17. This is such a delightful post, Tanja. My interest in Mr. Emanuel’s book obviously went in a different direction, but I know that I’m surrounded by many of the warblers you’ve shown here — even though I rarely see one. The one I recognize most easily and see most often is the Yellow-rumped, which I was introduced to as the Myrtle Warbler. The variety among them is delightful, and I really enjoyed seeing your photos.

    I always laugh at a question I’ve been asked a few times as I wander: “Are you a bird person or a flower person?” Setting aside the implied need for a forced choice, it’s true that I think of myself as a flower person first. That was my entreé into nature, just as birds seem to have been yours. That said, I’m convinced that it doesn’t matter which door we choose; it’s the entering that counts.

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    • I appreciate the comment, Linda, and am glad you enjoyed the post. It’s one of the great appeals of reading that different readers can come away with different ideas after having dived into the same book.

      You will, of course, be able to relate much better to all the Texas destinations Mr. Emanuel discusses as you visit some of them regularly, even if your main focus isn’t on the area’s birds, but its flowers.

      I wholeheartedly agree that it doesn’t matter which door into nature one enters and that the actual entering is what is most important. Once we start to pay attention to small details of some creatures, it will only be a matter of time until others spark our interest as well. My dream is to get a better understanding of how all the different organisms interact with and interdepend on one another, but that would take more lifetimes than I have at my disposal.

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  18. Lovely photographs of these beautiful birds, Tanja! I have the same feeling about flying as you and no longer wish to travel abroad anyway. Hubby and I have decided not to renew our passports. There are enough places that we’d like to visit in the UK to satisfy any desire to travel anyway.

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    • Thank you, Ann. I don’t really know if our small lifestyle changes can make a difference in the big picture, but I find it irresponsible to continue to live as if our resources were unlimited and the earth weren’t sick. I still have to fly to Europe because of family, but I don’t really have a choice in that regard.

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