July 31, 2016 - Warblers - Part 2

My trip to the North Shore in May did produce many nice warbler photos. Here’s a second set. Compared to the many colorful members of the warbler family, the Nashville Warbler is kind of plain. It has a gray head, a yellow throat and body, and a prominent white eye ring. However, this photo shows a feature that is not often seen. Nashville Warblers have a streak of red feathers on their heads that is usually covered up but here you can see them peeking through.

WarblerNashvilleParkHillRoadLakeCounty20160526

This male Wilson’s Warbler has a black cap that gives him a very jaunty look. He was probably just passing through, however, because this species doesn’t usually nest in Minnesota. It does nest all across Canada, in the northwestern United States, and in the New England states.

WarblerWilson'sParkHillRoadLakeCounty20160526

This female Yellow-rumped Warbler is carrying a feather, presumably to line a nest she is building nearby.

WarblerYellowrumpedcarryingfeatherSawbillTrailCookCounty20160527

Here’s a male Yellow-rumped Warbler in breeding plumage. In non-breeding plumage he looks like the female in the previous photo. Most warblers migrate to warmer locations in the winter. Some “butter-butts” (as people sometimes call them) also leave the country but many of them stay in the United States during the cold season.

WarblerYellowrumpedSawbillTrailCookCounty20160527

I think this Yellow Warbler is a female because a male would have much more prominent reddish streaks on his breast. Yellow Warblers have a wider nesting range than any of our other North American warblers. They can be found all across Canada and Alaska, in all the lower 48 states except a few in the far southeast, and down into Mexico.

WarblerYellowTaconiteHarborCookCounty20160526

Here’s an interesting photo from my trip. Birds preen their feathers to clean and reshape them. When I’ve seen this illustrated in a book, it showed the flat feather being pulled through the bill of the bird. This is the first time I’ve photographed a bird actually preening. This Yellow Warbler is folding the flexible part of a feather against the rigid shaft of the feather. It looks like the feather will slide through its bill in this folded format, thereby cleaning off any dirt or parasites. Now I’m wondering if this is the way it really happens or do they use both methods?

WarblerYellowpreeningTaconiteHarborCookCounty20160526