Wood-Warblers

Seiurus aurocapilla
Puh-CHUR, puh-CHUR, puh-CHUR.The song of a migrating Ovenbird came strident and clear from the depths of a woodlot in Badgerow Park on a delightfully cool May morning. This birder edged cautiously off the trail, following a deer track through scrubby bushes into a part of the woods that was clear of understory.Puh-CHUR, puh-CHUR, puh-CHUR.The song was coming from just to the right. Now the hard part: Actually seeing the bird. Past experience had taught the birder to look for it in a higher perch than one might expect of a ground-dwelling warbler. A small knot sticking out on a tree limb, perhaps 25 feet off the ground, caught the birder’s eye, and there it was, the Ovenbird. After a moment it walked along the branch, which helped confirm its identity as surely as its song and plumage. And then it stopped near the end of the branch.Puh-CHUR, puh-CHUR, puh-CHUR.Head tilted back, bill open wide, the Ovenbird poured forth its song, its entire body convulsing with the effort.And then it flew and was gone.
Background
The oven-shaped nest of this ground-nesting warbler gives it its name. It requires large, contiguous forests on its breeding range in northern and northeastern North America, and is one of the woodland species that has suffered significant declines in the last 20-30 years as forests have become increasingly fragmented, subjecting these birds to increased predation and nest parasitism. Loss of forest habitat on its wintering grounds in Florida, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands is also a concern. Compared to warblers with similar nesting and feeding requirements, Ovenbird tends to use uplands and moderately sloped areas. In contrast, Worm-eating uses steep slopes, and Louisiana Waterthrush and Kentucky Warblers lower lying areas. Though Ovenbirds are often parasitized by cowbirds, they feed all their nestlings evenly, so that cowbird fledglings from Ovenbird nests weigh 20 percent less, on average, than those from nests of other host species. Overall numbers are declining, according to BBS data. (BNA 88: 1, 5, 14, 16-17)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this an abundant summer resident in Monroe County, which seems curious given the large scale conversion of forest to agricultural lands by that time. He listed it as a common summer resident in both Livingston and Wayne counties. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to three birds, with a maximum count of 20, on dates ranging from 30 April to 11 November. Edson considered it a “common” nesting species in the Reed Road swamp. (GOS, August-October 1949)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 222 times, placing it fifth among 35 warbler species in overall frequency of occurrence and fifth among warblers seen in spring (140 records). It was reported 32 times from late June through early August, tying it for fourth among warblers in frequency of summer sightings. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)In 1953, Tanghe described this as a common breeder in the Rochester area, specifically listing the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and Bergen Swamp as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common summer resident and a casual, very rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient and a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 26 April to 11 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 2 to 8 May. Subsequently, one on 21 April 1994 (A. Watson) at Cobb’s Hill set a new record early date. (GOS, June 1994)
Spring maxima: 30 on 10 May 1995 (D. and D. Traver) at Webster. (GOS, July/August 1995) 20 banded on 10 May 2007 (BBBO) at Manitou. (LG, July/August 2007) 20 on 12 May 1997 (Marcotte) at Badgerow Park. (GOS, July/August 1997) 20+ on 17 May 1997 (Fox) at Rattlesnake Hill WMA. (Fox, p. 86)
Summer/breeding status: The Breeding Bird Atlas projects indicate this species can be found nesting in woodlots throughout most of the less developed areas of our region, missing only from the cultivated areas of northern Livingston County, parts of western Wayne and, increasingly, in suburban areas of Monroe, especially west of the Genesee. Moreover “Ovenbirds were down in forests where the undergrowth was wiped out by deer,” according to notes to the July 2002 noteworthy records in the Goshawk.

Members of an RBA field trip to Bergen Swamp in June 1980 were thrilled to discover “a rarely seen Ovenbird nest delicately arched beneath the secure greenery of a hemlock sapling, safely obscuring four feathery young.” (LG, August 1980) At least four Ovenbirds could be heard singing in the wet woodlands along Norway Road, near Ridge Road, in June 2006. (Pers. obs.)Found in mature woods with ground cover and rotting leaf litter, Fox writes. (Fox, p. 86) At Letchworth, for example, it can be found throughout the park in all forest types, but prefers areas that are flat or have only a gentle slope, park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes.
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 2 September to 4 December, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 12 September to 5 October. When Paul Weld found one feeding on the ground 29 November 1964 in the Pinetum at Durand-Eastman Park (KB15: 30), it was hailed as “one of the most unusual late fall warbler records of recent years.” (BA, 3 December 1964) One on 20 November to 4 December 1971 at the Moons’ Irondequoit feeder near Durand Eastman Park provided the record late fall date. (GOS, January, February 1972; KB22: 87) However, note winter records below.Lack of song, cryptic plumage and tendency to forage alone, on or near ground, makes it harder to detect than many other fall warblers, hence lack of “Maxima” for this season in published records. Indeed, only 18 were tallied during a mid-August/mid-October visual census of nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-1998. (KB 49: 10) The 133 banded in fall at Manitou from 1999-2006 by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, is probably a better indicator.
Winter: One from 30 December 1982 thru January 1983 (A. and M. Maybee et al) lingered “in a protected area around a feeding station” at Greece during a mild winter. (KB33: 119)Another from mid December 1992 through February 1993 (W. and M. Haag) was a “sporadic but continuing visitor” at a Greece feeder drawn to the “finer seeds,” and arriving most often about an hour before dark. (KB43: 126; GOS, March 1993; Birds, 7 February 1993) One 15-16 January 2000 (M. Mattei, D. Tetlow) was at Mary Mattei’s feeder in Irondequoit. (LG, March 2000) Another was at a feeder from 19-31 December 2006 (J. Kaufman et al) in Irondequoit. (LG, February 2007) One from 1-25 January 2007 (Kaufmann, mob) was at Irondequoit. (LG, March 2007)
Misc.
Strident song, which can also sound like teacher-teacher-teacher, helps locate this woodland bird during spring migration and breeding. “It is not, however, the most melodious of the Ovenbird’s performances,” Eaton wrote. That would be the so-called “passion song,” delivered on the wing “when the bird is flying through the trees, as I have witnessed it on several occasions, the performer rising from a limb of moderate elevation and flying upward through the forest until he reaches nearly the height of the tallest trees when he seems fairly to burst with a torrent of warbling, gurgling notes which have no special form of delivery but are certainly melodious and impressive. After the torrent has spent its force, the performer partially closes his wings and darts down to the forest floor again, the song seeming to die away . . .” (Eaton II: 437)Banded birds: One banded at Manitou Beach on 16 May 1993 was found dead in May 1995 in Lewisport, Kentucky, about 600 miles to the southwest (LG, February 1996; GOS, February 1996)

Worm-eating Warbler

Helmitheros vermivorus
The big news one May morning in Island Cottage Wood was the sighting of two rare warbler species, Kentucky and Worm-eating.Bob Dobson wandered over to the area where the drab, skulking Worm-eating had been reported. “Bob was not having much luck,” his brother Frank reported. “Bird song was plentiful, but heavy foliage hindered the viewing.” Fortunately, he had an ally that morning. A friendly dog from one of the neighboring houses, apparently part Basset hound and part Labrador retriever, showed up at Bob’s side. Both he and the dog stood quietly for a time. “Then, in a moment of wishful thinking, Bob pointed to some bushes and said to his four-legged friend – ‘Why don’t you go into that tangle and stir up some birds?’ As if completely understanding the request, the big-footed pooch charged into the underbrush.” Needless to say, one of the first birds routed from the brush was the Worm-eating. (Birds, 22 June 1986)Of equal interest was the Worm-eating Warbler that was probably at Letchworth SP, but was never actually seen. Douglas Bassett, park naturalist, heard the tell-tale, flat, insect-like buzzing song of this species, which had never been recorded in the park. He returned to the spot several times, playing tapes of the song, hoping to lure the bird into view. Finally a bird singing the same song popped up. It was a junco. Bassett continued to return to the site, playing tapes. Finally, another bird singing the same song showed itself: a Chipping Sparrow! His theory: Similar sounding species often change their songs to sound even more alike when they occupy the same breeding areas (see Pine Warbler). He never saw a Worm-eating Warbler at the spot, but is convinced one had been there.This also suggests that caution is in order when attempting to identify birds, especially rarities, by song alone.
Background
“The Worm-eating Warbler is perhaps best known for its habit of hopping through the understory and probing into suspended dead leaves for food,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It nests on the ground primarily where large tracts of deciduous or mixed forest “overlap with moderate to steep slopes and patches of dense understory shrubs” such as rhododendron and mountain laurel. Its breeding range encompasses the Appalachians, Ozark Mountains and other sections of the eastern U.S. This species appears to be expanding northward in Connecticut and Rhode Island and into Massachusetts, no doubt benefiting from regenerating forests on abandoned farmland. Late in incubation the female “sits so tightly on nest that only touching will flush her.” Population trends are difficult to assess; clearly this species is vulnerable to loss and fragmentation of forests not only on its breeding grounds but in its wintering range in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. (BNA 367: 1-4, 11, 14-15)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a rare, accidental visitor in Monroe County, mentioning it had occurred at Rochester without giving a date. He indicated no record of occurrence in Livingston or Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts, II: 383)Horsey makes no mention of this species in his list of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936. One near Tryon Park on 16 May 1943 appeared to be the first Monroe County record in some 30 years. (WBR, 24 May 1943)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported only once within 50 miles of Rochester, an individual bird in May. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)No wonder Edson in 1955 considered this “One of the least common of our warblers.” (WBR, 6 June 1955)Another seen by John Foster and Tom Tetlow “on the banks of the Genesee River near the Clarissa Street bridge” in May 1962 was only the sixth Rochester record, “and the first one seen here in five years,” Starling reported. (WBR, 7 May 1962) However, since the mid 1970s almost every year brings one to five, usually spring migrants overshooting the northern limits of their breeding range.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, very rare spring visitant and a sporadic, very rare fall visitant.
Occurrence
Of about 67 records since 1952, all but two to three have been in spring.
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 30 April to 9 June, with a mid range of 8 to12 May. Subsequently, one on 5 April 1997 (V. and H. Humphrey) at Seneca Park set a record early date for the entire state. (KB47: 203; GOS, June 1997)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list indicates only three fall records: 1. One on 21 September 1969 (Haller) West Rush. (KB 20: 19) 2. 20 September 1973, not mentioned in the KB. 3. Two on 24-25 August 1979 (N. Henderson) Island Cottage Wood. (GOS, October 1979; KB 29: 217)

Louisiana Waterthrush

Parkesia motacillaformerly Seiurus motacilla
“No bird could be more typical of a certain environment than the Louisiana Waterthrush,” Beardslee and Mitchell observed. “It invariably chooses a brook which has cut a ravine into the shale rock so frequently found in western New York. Up and down the floor of these glens the birds may be seen feeding, and their nests are cleverly hidden in the bank a few feet above the creek bed.” (B&M, p. 388) Indeed, peer closely into the cool dappling of shadow and sunshine along a rushing stream in Letchworth SP, and you may find a Louisiana Waterthrush, wagging the entire back half of its body and tail up and down as it teeters its way from rock to rock in the streambed, picking at insects. Scientists tell us this teetering “ is executed by moving ankle joints through a 15- to 20-degree angle change.” (BNA 151:7). What isn’t so clear is why this species and others that share similar plumage and water-related habitat – such as Northern Waterthrush, Spotted Sandpiper, and American Pipit – do this. However, one theory is that it helps communicate a bird’s location to its mate.
Background
This tail-wagging species’ “loud, ringing song,” combines clear whistles followed by a complex jumble of shorter phrases. It is heard primarily until the male finds a mate and is usually loud enough to be heard even over the rushing water in its preferred habitat: gravel-bottomed streams flowing through hilly, deciduous forest. We are at the northern limits of its breeding range, which extends over most of the eastern U.S. However, it appears to be expanding its range northward, perhaps in response to the reforestation that has occurred in areas that were heavily lumbered in the late 1800s. This is an incredibly fast forager, even moreso than the “notoriously frenetic” American Redstart, using a combination of picking, hawking, and hovering for insects, and also pulling dead leaves from water and flipping them over. Breeding Bird Survey is of limited use in tracking this species’ status because most birds have stopped singing by the time routes are conducted. (BNA 151:1-6, 14)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an uncommon transient in Monroe County, a local summer resident in that county and Livingston, but gave no indication of occurrence in Wayne. “Throughout central and western New York it is found in all the ravines of the central lake district as well as in the Genesee valley…” (Eaton I: county charts, II: 441)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this had been seen primarily as a spring migrant, only one or two at a time, on dates ranging from 4 to 11 May. He reported only two fall sightings: one on 15 September 1929 and one on 6 August 1934.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported only 8 times within a 50-mile radius Rochester, compared to 140 sightings of Northern Waterthrush. However, one of the records involved 10-20 birds in late July. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)In 1953 Tanghe considered this a rare breeder in the Rochester area, listing only the west shore of Canandaigua Lake as a nesting location. (GOS, May/August 1953)It remains a rare migrant along the lakeshore, primarily birds overshooting their range in spring, but a regular breeder along fast-flowing streams in gullies in southern part of our region.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an occasional, rare spring transient and a sporadic, rare fall transient.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 12 April (1964) to 29 May, with a mid range of 30 April to 10 May. The early bird on 12 April 1964 (Listman) was at Manitou. (KB 14:162)
Spring maxima: 9 on 25 April 1968 (Maley) at Canadice Lake. (KB 18:150) 12 on 17 May 1981 (Bassett, Conklin) at Letchworth SP. (LG, June 1981)
Summer/breeding status: Like its cousin the Northern Waterthrush, prefers wooded areas to nest; unlike Northern, prefers swift-flowing streams. Thus, even where they are both found nesting, they “in effect sort out their separate ways ecologically,” Bull (1974) observed. This also explains its absence from the Lake Ontario plain “where fast-flowing streams are generally wanting and where the swamp-loving Northern Waterthrush replaces it.” (Bull, pp. 509- 510)To see this species, birders traditionally flock to southern parts of the region, especially around the Finger Lakes, where “apparently almost every deep glen with a running stream . . . harbors a pair or more of these wary, shy” birds, John Brown noted in 1956. (BA, 21 June 1956) Adults with young were in a glen at the southeast corner of Conesus Lake in summer 1956 and 1962. (BA, 14 June 1956; 2 August 1962) Many pairs were reported “in gorges off the Finger Lakes” in 1977. (KB27: 218) The heavy rains and flooding associated with the remnants of Hurricane Agnes in 1972 apparently hurt the nesting of this species at least temporarily – especially in Letchworth State Park, where water backed up nearly to the top of the Mt. Morris dam. “We used to get it there regularly,” John Brown commented in 1976, “until the Hurricane Agnes flood . . . scoured the ravines.” He reported that only a single bird was reported in the park the summer of 1976, by Jeanne Skelly and Julie Claffey who “had to climb through a portion of the park devastated by the March ice storm to locate the scarce warbler along a small stream.” (BA, 14 July 1976)Now, however, it is “fairly abundant within 100 yards of running water,” reports park naturalist Douglas Bassett. Birders usually go to Wolf Creek and Dishmill Creek because they are easily accessible, but “practically every ravine has one to three pairs along it,” Bassett notes. Six were tallied during an RBA field trip to the park on 5 June 1994. (LG, June/July 1994) The Breeding Bird Atlas projects were very similar in number of blocks with evidence of breeding and also in finding them primarily in the higher elevations to the south.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 6 August to 8 October (1976), with a mid range of 15 to 20 September.

Northern Waterthrush

Parkesia noveboracensisformerly Seiurus noveboracensis
This birder came to Norway Wood looking for Cerulean Warblers in June 2006. But as he wandered along the roadside, he came to section that stirred an old memory: Northern Waterthrush had sung here years before. And then he heard it.Chip-chip-chip chup chup. What followed was one of those magical moments. The bird had apparently just bathed in one of the standing pools of water that make this section of woods so productive. It flew to the roadside directly in front of the birder, at eye level, and perched on a bare branch to preen. The birder, froze, binoculars focused on the bird. Long moments passed as the waterthrush alternately smoothed its damp feathers, tilted its head back to sing and, of course, all the while kept bobbing its tail. Then it flew low across the road and disappeared into the woods on the other side of the road. A group of birders had harder work locating one the previous year when the distinctive song of this waterthrush came from the vicinity of a vernal pool at Amy’s Ponds on 8 May 2005. Forty-eight birders immediately deployed into a semicircle around the pool. For the next 15 to 20 minutes the group looked and looked, no doubt many of the birders concentrating on the edges of the pool where a Northern Waterthrush, which spends most of its time walking on the ground, would normally be seen. Finally, it was spotted – 30 feet up in a tangle of branches and catkins where it had apparently been singing all along! (LG, June 2005)
Background
Seldom seen far from water, this bird continually “bobs its body and wags its tail,” which helps identify it as a waterthrush. It nests in cool, dark, wooded swamps, thickets of bogs, along the margins of debris-strewn lakes and along willow- and alder-bordered rivers from Alaska across most of Canada into northeastern U.S. Though it is aggressive toward other species on its breeding grounds, it coexists with the similar Louisiana Waterthrush where the two overlap, having evolved differences in foraging and other behaviors. Northern, for example, is more likely to feed from wet surfaces and sloping branches adjacent to pools of water; Louisiana feeds in shallow running water and more often flips leaves on the water surface. Though its breeding habitat appears relatively secure, its wintering habitat is increasingly endangered in Central and northern South America by destruction of mangroves. (BNA 182: 1-2, 5, 7)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a fairly common transient in Monroe, Wayne and Livingston counties, but gives no indication of it staying to breed. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds, with a maximum count of 20, on dates ranging from 25 April to 24 September.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 140 times, placing it 13th among 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence. Most records (92) were in spring; one to three birds were the norm. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B) In 1953, Tanghe described this as an uncommon breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically mentioning Thousand Acre Swamp and Reed Road as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common summer resident and a casual, very rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring transient and a (presumably regular) uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 14 April (1964) to 10 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 26 April to 4 May. Subsequently, one on 8 April 1985 (R. Ladwig) at Island Cottage was earlier. (KB 35: 188)Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 26th with 328 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 25 on 30 April 1960 (Listman) at Manitou. (GOS, March/July 1960) 12 banded on 24 May 1993 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1993)
Summer/breeding status: “A new record for nesting birds in Monroe County was put on the books June 10 when a northern waterthrush was observed leaving a nest with two eggs in a swamp near the Cheese Factory Road in Mendon,” Edson reported in 1936. “The nest was made in a hollow caused by the rotting away of a tree sump, leaving the nest site about a foot above the surrounding area.” (WBR, 15 June 1936)This uncommon nester prefers shallow, stagnant water, and is much more likely to be found along the lake plain than in higher elevations to the south, where it is replaced by its cousin, the Louisiana Waterthrush along fast-moving streams in steep gullies.This pattern is well documented by the Breeding Bird Atlas projects. The second project, in particular, found most evidence of breeding in Wayne County and in blocks along the Orleans/Genesee county line. Not surprisingly, it found little or no evidence of breeding in the heavily developed suburban areas of Monroe County.

Nesting locations over the years include Reed Road Sanctuary, Thousand Acre Swamp and Bergen Swamp. (WBR, 30 June 1952; Bull, p. 509) Often found in the wet woodlands along Norway Road just north of West Ridge Road. The first BBA project also confirmed nesting at Cumming Nature Center. (KB 32:273) At Letchworth SP, however, it is “extremely rare,” recorded nesting only a few times in beaver swamps, typically in the root tangle of overturned trees, park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes.Wandering, apparently nonbreeding birds can show up in odd locations in mid summer, such as one on 27 July 1977 (N. Henderson, Reister) at Braddock Bay (LG, August 1977) and again (Ewald) on 23 July 1993. (KB 43:317) Another on 4 August 1995 (Marcotte) was an early fall arrival at Badgerow Park. (GOS, October 1995)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 30 August to 4 October, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 13 to 25 September. Subsequently, one banded on 24 October 2007 (R. and C. McKinney) at Manitou was record late. (LG, December 2007)
Winter: This species put in a very rare winter appearance 7-21 February 1953 (mob) at Tryon Park and apparently the same bird was still there on 22 March. (GOS, March/April 1953) Another on 15-18 January 2003 (D. Tetlow) was at the Caledonia Fish Hatchery. (KB53: 140-1; LG, March 2003)

Blue-winged Warbler

Vermivora cyanopteraformerly, Vermivora pinusTo Eaton’s ears, the song of this species was “insignificant, a wheezy performance.” (Eaton II: 385) And yet, this birder never tires of the opportunity to hear it. To this birder’s ears, it has an almost comical, spluttering quality at the end. Equally appealing is the appearance of the bird: The thin black line through the eye, and the soft bluish gray on the wings contrasting nicely with bright yellow plumage. Fortunately for birders, but apparently not so fortunately for its close cousin, the Golden-winged Warbler, this species has increased dramatically in our region in recent decades.
Background
The high-pitched, insect-like Beee-Buzzzz is commonly heard in overgrown old fields and brushy swamps throughout this species’ range in the eastern United States.This species benefited from the clearing of the forests by European settlers, with expansion of range proceeding along major river valleys. Range expansion continues in north-central and eastern states. However, in recent years, populations in northeastern U.S. have declined as forests regenerate and other habitat is lost to suburban sprawl. Hybridization with Golden-winged Warblers produces rare Brewster’s and even rarer Lawrence’s Warblers. “Still challenging us, however, is how, or even whether, invading Blue-wings directly cause the extinction of local populations of Golden-winged Warblers.” Conservation and management a low priority for this species “because of relatively stable population size and almost complete replacement of Golden-wings in areas of secondary contact.” However, as with other shrubland birds, research is needed on impact of advancing plant succession and suburban sprawl. (BNA 584: 1-3, 17)
Local history
See sidebar on reversal of fortunes with Golden-winged Warbler.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common summer resident. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 1 May to 2 June, with a mid-range, or “normal” arrival time of 7-19 May. Subsequently, ones on 27 April 1994 (mob) at several locations were record early. (GOS, June 1994) These were apparently overlooked when one on 28 April 2001 at Island Cottage Wood was also reported record early. (GNR)
Spring maxima: 50 on 22 May 1988 (R. Spahn, McKinney) at Letchworth SP. (GOS, July 1978) Summer/breeding status: See sidebar for initial stages of breeding expansion here. The Breeding Bird Atlas projects suggest this species may be continuing to enlarge its breeding presence here. The first project, for example, found most evidence of breeding to the south and west of Rochester, with only scattered evidence in Wayne County. The second project reported evidence of breeding in many more blocks there. How much of this is an actual increase in occurrence in Wayne County, how much an increase in observer effort, is open to conjecture.

At Letchworth SP, Blue-winged Warbler can be found throughout the park in brushy shrubland – “that is, shrubby areas that are harder to walk through as opposed to shrubs that are easy to walk through,” park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes. They are also occasionally found in fields that were opened up after evergreens were leveled in the 1976 ice storm, and are now shrublands. The other three birds of this foursome – Golden-winged, Brewster’s and Lawrence’s – occupy similar habitat in the park, Bassett added, with Brewster’s more common than Golden-winged, and Lawrence’s the rarest of the four.
Summer maxima: 72 on 30 June 1978 (R. Clark, Symonds) at Letchworth SP was considered an “incredible” tally. (KB 28:240)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 24 August to 26 October. Even later was one banded on 31 October 2002 (McKinney) at Manitou. (LG, December 2002; KB 55:171)During a mid-August to mid-October census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-1998, this species contributed 20 of 2,704 sightings. (KB 49:10) Winter: One was at Hamlin Beach SP (D. Tetlow) on the remarkably late date of 9 December 2004, constituting a first winter record not only for our region but the entire state. (KB 55:170, 172)

Sidebar: A reversal of fortunes - Blue-winged/Golden-winged warblers

William Symonds remembers riding to the wet woodlands and adjoining scrubby fields on Norway Road as a teenager, and routinely finding Golden-winged Warblers. “A Blue-winged Warbler would have made the noteworthy list,” he added. “Now that is practically reversed.”One of the most dramatic changes in upstate New York has been the gradual reversal of fortunes of these two warblers. Golden-winged has traditionally been the first to exploit the specialized shrubby/wooded edge habitat that occurs when abandoned farmland undergoes plant succession. Blue-winged, however, eventually arrives at the later stages of succession, hybridizing with and, in some instances, co-existing with Golden-winged, but more often eventually displacing them. These two species are treated together here because they are inextricably bound.
Early Blue-winged Warbler history
Neither species, it appears, was seen with much frequency here in the early 1900s. Eaton (1910) considered the Blue-winged to be a rare species in Monroe County – meaning recorded only a few times – with no records of occurrence in either Livingston or Wayne. It was “certainly rare as a migrant and extremely rare as a breeding species in central and western New York,” he wrote. (Eaton I: county charts; II: 385) Indeed, Horsey (1937) listed only two Monroe County sightings, in 1914 and 1915, both in September. But then, the first sighting of Blue-winged Warblers since those years in Monroe County didn’t occur until May 1951, “one on each side of the county,” according to Edson. (WBR, 28 May 1951) They were apparently reported nesting at about the same time. Edson reported in 1953 that Blue-winged had been found nesting “for two summers in succession . . . in the brushy edges of a cedar swamp in Chili.” (WBR, 29 June 1953) Other accounts indicate the first documented nesting was at the Burroughs-Audubon Nature Station in June 1953. (KB 3:74; GOS, September/October 1953) Even as late as 1956, though, this species was not even on the Genesee Ornithological Society checklist of birds likely to found in our area, Brown noted. (BA, 28 June 1956)
Early Golden-winged Warbler history
Though Eaton (1910) gave no indication of occurrence in Livingston or Wayne counties, he listed Golden-winged as a more frequent “uncommon” summer resident in Monroe County. Even that meant “unusual in occurrence.” In 1929, Edson and Horsey wrote that it was “very local in its distribution.” (“Rare Grasshopper Sparrows Found Nesting Near Pittsford,” D&C, 3 June 1929) It was nesting at Powder Mill Park in 1950. (GOS, June/August 1950) Indeed, Edson asserted the following year, the Golden-winged nested “in many parts of (Monroe) county, always in swampy woods where there is a considerable percentage of cedar.” (WBR, 28 May 1951) Tanghe, in his list of birds known to have bred in the Rochester area during 1946 to 1952, described Golden-winged as an uncommon nester, specifically citing Powder Mill and Tryon parks. (GOS, May/August 1953) He did not list Blue-winged at all. Golden-winged apparently was a relatively common migrant as well: a maximum count of 18 – location not mentioned – is listed for May 1951. (GOS, April/June 1951) When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members within a 50-mile radius of Rochester for the years 1951-1954, he found 94 sightings of Golden-winged, but only 9 of Blue-winged. Average tallies of Golden-winged were 3-5 during the last half of May. (KB5: 69: 6A-6B) Ten Golden-wingeds were found during a Genesee Ornithological Society field trip in the Powder Mill Park/Fishers area on 6 June 1959 (KB9:125), when only two Blue-wingeds were reported. (BA, 11 June 1959)
The shift begins
By 1962, at least one pair of Blue-winged Warbler was nesting in Powder Mill Park, Brown reported, and another pair was observed feeding three young there two years later. (BA, 7 June 1962; 16 July 1964) The tipping point between the two species in our region overall may very well have come during the late 1960s or early 1970s. In 1965, for example, Beardslee and Mitchell observed that Golden-winged Warblers were more numerous than Blue-winged Warbler in the northern counties of western New York but less plentiful in the Southern Tier counties. (B&M, p. 365)In 1971, Richard O’Hara noted that “the Blue-winged Warbler is being reported increasingly, and the Golden-winged less frequently south of Rochester.” (KB 21:221)And by the end of that decade, it was clear that Blue-winged had become the more numerous of the two species. A tally of 72 Blue-winged Warblers on 30 June 1978 (R. Clark, Symonds) at Letchworth SP was considered “incredible.” (KB 28:240) Steve Taylor, RBA field editor, noted in his July 1981 field report that “Blue-winged Warblers . . . seem to be prospering, outnumbering their golden-winged cousin by 15 or 20 to 1.” (LG, August 1981) In 1982, veteran birder Walt Listman noted that Blue-winged Warblers, “once almost unknown in fall migration, are now fairly common.” (BA, 2 September 1982) That June, when members of the Genesee Ornithological Society conducted their fifth annual breeding bird census in the Canadice-Hemlock-Honeoye Lakes area, “for the first time, no golden-winged warbler was recorded,” John Brown reported. It may have been the relatively cold, windy weather that day. However, “scarcity of this species may reflect the changing habitat marked by the transition from scrubby, abandoned fields to taller tree growth.” Moreover, in the Monroe County annotated list (1985), Blue-winged was considered a “fairly common” summer resident, while Golden-winged remained “uncommon.” (AL, p. 46) Even more dramatic were the results from the Breeding Bird Atlas projects. During the first project, evidence of breeding by Blue-winged Warbler was recorded in twice as many blocks as Golden-winged. Twenty years later, the gap had widened even more, with Blue-winged found in two-thirds of the blocks assigned to our region, Golden-winged in fewer than one-tenth.

Equally telling is the increased presence of Golden-wingedXBlue-winged hybrids (See Brewster’s and Lawrence’s warblers below.)As many as 250 to 300 pairs of Blue-winged have been estimated to breed at Letchworth SP alone (Burger and Liner, p. 76), whereas “Finding a single (Golden-winged) during migration or during the breeding season is a difficult task,” Kurt Fox notes in his discussion of Livingston County birds. (Fox, p. 79) By 1998, Fox considered Blue-winged to be a regular common summer resident in Livingston County, whereas Golden-winged was an irregular rare (formerly regular uncommon) summer resident.
What’s been going on here?
Both species expanded their range into the northeastern United States during the last century or more, with Golden-winged expanding earlier and farther north than Blue-winged. (Andrle, p. 356)Golden-winged flourishes in areas with scattered patches of grass, thick brush and a few trees – in other words, the kind of very early successional habitat that occurs after farmland is abandoned, and that “would occur only briefly during succession.”Blue-winged, on the other hand, “nests in a broad range of secondary succession growth,” allowing it to replace Golden-winged in areas where plant succession moves beyond initial stages. (Andrle, pp. 354-356)As farmland abandonment progressed from south to north across the state, notes John L. Confer, “the slightly more southern distribution of the Blue-winged, in comparison to the Golden-winged, is correlated with the blue-wing’s use of later stages of succession. In NY the northern limit of the breeding range of the Blue-winged has lagged 30-50 mi behind the Golden-winged population as both have expanded northward throughout this (20th) century.” (Levine, p. 452) It is tempting, then, to think of this as two ripples spreading across a pond, Blue-wingeds following and eventually replacing Golden-wingeds from south to north across the state. But it isn’t quite that simple. Bull in 1974 concluded that Blue-winged had “spread northward more rapidly than . . .the more northerly Golden-winged Warbler” resulting in a “wide zone of sympatry (overlap) which in turn has initiated extensive and widespread interbreeding.” (Bull, p. 472) In some areas, Golden-winged and Blue-winged have coexisted side by side for a century. (Andrle, p. 356) Still to be seen is the extent to which ongoing plant succession will eventually deplete not only Golden-winged but Blue-winged in some areas. Also unclear is the extent to which hybridization between the two species in areas of overlap does or does not contribute to Golden-winged’s eventual decline.

Golden-winged Warbler***

Vermivora chrysoptera
This birder first saw a Golden-winged Warbler on 19 May 1989, when the woodlots at Badgerow Park in Greece were alive with migrants. The birder heard it first: That distinctive, buzzing zeee zaw-zaw-zaw, which was memorable in and of itself. But it was the sheer beauty of this bird that most impressed this birder. That wonderful combination of yellow on grey, punctuated by the bold black and white pattern of the face and throat. It is good that the image of this bird, and the others he has seen on occasion, are securely stored in his memory banks. It is getting harder and harder to find these declining songbirds in our region.
Background
This “small but stunning songbird” increased its numbers and expanded its range for more than a century, but is now declining in many areas and has disappeared from previously occupied regions. Its range appears to be contracting in the southeast, while still expanding to the north and west. It appears to thrive in shrubby, early-succession fields, especially with a forested edge, that appear as the result of logging, forest fires or abandonment of farmland. However, it then declines as plant succession progresses further, and as the Blue-winged Warbler moves in. In some areas, Golden-wingeds have been extirpated within 50 years of arrival of its sister species. Moreover, loss of forest edge and open woodland on its wintering grounds in Central and South America may be contributing to its decline, as well as parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds, and hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers. A 40-year cycle of burning 10-20 hectare units of habitat has been proposed. (BNA 20: 1-3, 12)
Local history
See sidebar on reversal of fortunes of Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon summer resident. It is now much rarer.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular rare (formerly regular uncommon) summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 30 April to 14 May, with a mid range or “normal” arrival time of 8-11 May. One on 26 April 1994 (D. and D. Traver) at Webster set a record early arrival date. (GOS, June 1994)
Spring maxima: 6 on 15 May 1984 (C. Cass) at Powder Mill Park. (GOS, July/August 1984)
Summer/breeding status: The Breeding Bird Atlas projects document the decline in this species’ presence in our region.

Summer maxima: 7 on 4 June 1960 (Genesee Ornithological Society trip) Powder Mill Park/Fishers area. (KB 10:102) 10 on 6 June 1959 (Genesee Ornithological Society trip) Powder Mill Park/Fishers area. (GNR, KB 9: 125) 9 on 9 June 1966 (Taylor) Powder Mill Park. (GOS, July/September 1966)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 15 August to 9 September, with a mid range or “normal” departure time of 21 August to 4 September. One banded on 15 September 1997 (Brooks) at Manitou was even later. (GOS, November 1997) Only one tallied during mid August to mid October census of migrating, nonresident fall warblers at Badgerow Park from 1995-1998. (KB 49: 10)

Brewster’s Warbler

Hybrid offspring of Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers are called Brewster’s Warbler, which can also result from a second generation pairing between a Golden-winged and Brewster’s. R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, reported two records: One on 2 May 1914 and one on 3 September 1921. However, Edson reported another sighting in the city parks in 1933. (“Hybrid Brewster Warbler Observed in These Parts,” D&C, 12 June 1933) By 1951 Edson reported that Brewster’s had been recorded several times here and “for some three or four years … nested in Powder Mills Park.” (WBR, 28 May 1951) This was a bit mystifying, given the scarcity of Blue-winged Warblers in our region at that time. And yet, by 1960, John Brown was writing that the Powder Mill Park/Fishers area had “become established in the past few years as the best place near Rochester for finding Brewster’s warblers.” (BA, 9 June 1960) By 1978 a veritable “boom” in Brewster’s was being noted. (KB 28:238)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an occasional, very rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 2 May to 3 September. One on 21 September 1997 (J. and K. Fox) at Letchworth SP was later. (GOS, November 1997) Summer/breeding status: The BBA projects indicate this hybrid is increasing here, which is to be expected given the dramatic increase in Blue-winged Warblers in areas where Golden-winged Warblers also occur.

Fox says Brewster is “now more common than one of its parent species, the Golden-winged Warbler” in Livingston County. (Fox, p. 80)
Maxima: Three banded on 10 May 2005 at Manitou. (KB 55: 272)
Fall: Most Kingbird citations are for sightings in spring and early summer. Three fall sightings are: One on 3 August 1985 (R. and S. Spahn) in Webster Park (KB 35:266; GOS, October 1985); one 21 September 1997 (J. and K. Fox) at Letchworth (GOS, November 1997) and one 8 August 2005 at Manitou. (KB 55:363)[Editor: One was seen every year from 2005 to 2010 on the Auburn Trail in Victor, Ontario County.]

Lawrence’s Warbler

When hybrid Brewster’s warblers breed with either parent species, one of the possible backcrosses is Lawrence’s Warbler. First reported in our region on 15 May 1965 (G. Davis) at Powder Mill Park. (KB 15:166) Next reported along Canadice Lake Road on 14 June 1975 (Feder), singing the song of a Blue-winged Warbler (BA, 18 June 1975; KB 25:216). Another was reported the following 4 July 1976 (Perrigo) along Norway Road. (LG, August 1976)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a casual, very rare spring visitant. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic rare summer resident.
Occurrence
Though recorded annually from 1993 to 1999, it continues to be a rarity, seen less often that Brewster’s. Only about 14 records cited in the Kingbird during the 1990s, plus “several” in the summer of 1990. The first BBA found evidence of breeding in only one block, and that was only possible. The second project found evidence of breeding in five blocks, three of them with confirmed breeding.

Black-and-white Warbler

Mniotilta varia
It was not hard to find the Black-and-white Warbler, amid the cottonwoods and brush at the north end of Badgerow Park at the height of the spring migration.Wee-sa, wee-sa, wee-sa, wee-sa, wee-sa.It was a high, thin song. Too often in the past, this birder had simply noted the unmistakable, black and white plumage of this species, and moved on in search of other warblers. This time, he decided to really watch this songster. It wasn’t hard. The warbler methodically hitched its way along branches and vines, sometimes going down them headfirst like a nuthatch, other times working up the trunk, constantly craning its neck to peak around the curvature of the branch, as relentless as a creeper. So intent was it upon its search for food that it did not seem to mind the company of a birder only a few feet away. Compared to other members of the warbler tribe, especially those high up in the treetops, the Black-and-white was relatively easy to observe.This is “one of the most restless members of this restless family,” Eaton (1914) wrote, “incessantly hopping about on the trunks and larger branches of the trees or clinging for a moment to the twigs and branches in search of plant lice and small insects . . . In creeping over the trunks of trees he resembles somewhat the Nuthatch in habits, but his progression is more jerky and at each hop or hitch he almost invariably faces in a different direction.” Its song, he added, is a “feeble refrain, thin and wiry in quality. Many people can not hear the song at a distance of more than 3 or 4 rods.” (Eaton II: 379-380)
Background
Though noted for its “unusual habit of methodically foraging on tree trunks and thick limbs,” it also forages among foliage like many other wood warblers, notes John Kricher in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Its breeding range extends across much of Canada and the eastern United States, in open woodland, second growth and mature forest, with a strong preference for deciduous tracts. It places its well-concealed nests on the ground, against a tree or fallen log, and occasionally in cavities in the top of a tree stump. On its Central and South American wintering grounds, it can be found in disturbed habitats, forest edge, parks and gardens. This species does not show evidence of a general population decline, and has probably benefited from the reversion of farmland to forest in the Northeast, though it is clearly sensitive to forest fragmentation. (BNA 158: 1, 2, 10, 12)
Local history
“Black and white warblers seemed to be climbing the trunk of every tree in the woods,” Eaton wrote after an early May 1902 outing in Rochester and at Irondequoit Bay. (“Flood-tide of bird migration,” D&C, 10 May 1902) Indeed, he listed this species as an abundant migrant in Monroe County, and common in Wayne. It had also been recorded as an occasional summer resident in both counties, and an uncommon summer resident in Livingston. During 25 years of field experience, he added, “I have found only a few breeding pairs in Erie, Monroe, Ontario, Genesee and Wayne Counties, except about the margins of the larger swamps and along the ravines of the lake region and the northern slopes of the higher hills.” (Eaton I: county charts, II: 379)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average spring daily counts of one to three birds, with a maximum count of 50, on dates ranging from 25 April to 4 June. The 50 were apparently the ones cited at Rochester 24 May 1917 by Bull, when hundreds of warblers were stranded at Tryon Park during a cold snap. (Bull, p. 463; WBR, 9 May 1960) In fall, single birds were the norm, and no more than two at a time, on dates ranging from 20 July to 15 October.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 155 times, placing it 10th among 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence. Most sightings (120) were in spring, and only six from the last half of June through the first half of August. (KB 5:69: 6A-6B)In 1953, Tanghe considered this a rare breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically mentioning Collingsworth Drive (near Ellison Park) as a nesting location. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring transient; an irregular, rare summer resident; a regular, uncommon fall transient and a casual, very rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring transient, a (presumably regular) rare summer resident and a (presumably regular) uncommon fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 17 April (1982) to 11 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 26 April to 2 May. Subsequently, one on 16 April 1985 (mob) at Braddock Bay set a new record early date. (GOS, June 1985) In most years had departed by 28 May, with a late departure date of 10 June.Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 28th with 288 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 25 on 3 May 1993 (B. and B. Powell) west lakeshore. (GOS, July/August 1993) 50 on 10 May 1995 (Clarridge) several locations. (GOS, July/August 1995) 30 on 12 May 1996 (D. and D. Traver) Webster. (GOS, July/August 1996) 38 on 12 May 1997 (A. Watson) at Cobbs Hill. (GOS, July/August 1997) 31 on 13 May 1978 (Lloyd, Sunderlin) at Webster. (GOS, June 1978)
Summer/breeding status: “The black and white warbler can be found in the glens around Canandaigua and Honeoye lakes as well as in other parts of the Finger Lake Region,” Edson noted in 1935. (WBR, 6 May 1935)This species has nested at Letchworth SP, Bergen Swamp – where eight were tallied on 8 June 1969 (GOS, July-Sept 1969; KB 19: 216) – and other woodland locations. Edson in 1949 reported that it had “apparently nested” in the Reed Road swamp the previous summer. (GOS, August-October 1949) Gertrude Davis reported a female feeding young near Ellison Park in July 1952. (WBR, 14 July 1952) It was “one of the few breeding records for Monroe County” at that time. The Breeding Bird Atlas projects suggest a possible shift in this species’ breeding presence. During the first project it was found as much in the lake plain as in the higher elevation forests to the south, including nearly a dozen blocks in Monroe County.During the second project, it had all but disappeared from Monroe County and, outside Bergen Swamp and cluster of blocks in eastern Wayne County, was confined primarily to higher elevation forests in southern Livingston and Ontario counties.

At Letchworth, it prefers steep banks, often in canyon banks as opposed to ravines, nesting on the ground next to a log or stump, and often where there is a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees, park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes. It is also more likely to be found on dry, south-facing slopes. One from 2-31 July 1998 (R. Dobson) at Greece was in a “very unusual summer location.” (KB 48:329)
Summer maxima: 8 on 8 June 1969 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) Bergen Swamp. (GOS, July/September 1969)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 3 August to 8 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 21 August to 2 September. In most years had departed by 29 September, with a late departure date of 27 November – a late straggler 25, 27 November 1978 (Kemnitzers) at Webster. (GOS, January 1979)Though not in the top 10, this was one of the more common species encountered during a mid August to mid October census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-98, contributing 66 to the total count of 2,704. (KB 49:10)
Fall maxima: 25 on 29 August 1974 (Claffey) at Brighton. (GNR)
Winter: A black-and-white that “should have been in the tropics” was found in Durand-Eastman Park, 15 December 1974, for the Rochester CBC. (BA, 18 December 1974; AL, p. 50)

Prothonotary Warbler

Protonotaria citrea
When the Rochester Birding Association asked members to list their top three favorite birds, it is not surprising this stunning warbler made some of the lists. “My first look at Prothonotary Warbler at Swallow Hollow Trail in Oak Orchard transported me for a brief moment to an exotic tropical jungle in Central America,” Mary Mattei noted. (LG, June 1977) “Every spring I’m drawn to Iroquois a countless number of times to observe the brightest, most cheerful warbler there is. I haven’t yet figured out how to draw myself away from this bird once I have found it,” added Roger Clark. (LG, April 1977)This is among the most stunning of the wood warblers in appearance, and is appropriately nicknamed the “Golden Swamp Warbler.” (Dunn and Garrett, p. 427) Notice, however, that Rochester birders often have to travel just outside Region 2 to find it breeding, most reliably at Oak Orchard swamp. In our region it has traditionally been seen primarily as a very rare spring visitor. More recently, however, birders have taken advantage of another breeding location just within our region, along Armitage Road where the Montezuma wetlands complex extends into Wayne County.
Background
Scattered western New York breeding colonies are at the very northernmost fringe of this species’ range. The striking plumage is like the bright yellow robes worn by the papal clerks, or prothonotaries, of the Roman Catholic Church. This species inhabits wet, swampy forests, primarily in the southeast U.S., and is the only eastern wood warbler to nest in tree cavities, often using holes excavated by Downy Woodpeckers. It also readily accepts nest boxes, which “are proliferating across the breeding range to bolster diminished local populations, as park managers recognize the educational and aesthetic value of this colorful warbler,” notes the profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Logging and agricultural conversion of bottomland hardwood forests throughout the southeast have hurt breeding populations. An even bigger threat may be the rapid destruction of mangrove forests in northern South America, where the greatest numbers of prothonotaries winter. BBS data indicate overall declining populations. (BNA 408: 1-2, 16)
Local history
Eaton (1914) considered this only an accidental visitor in New York, and gave no indication of occurrence in Monroe, Livingston or Wayne counties. (Eaton II: 381, I: county charts)“Not until the late 1920s or early 1930s was it reported with any degree of regularity – a few observed each spring,” Bull observed. (Bull, p. 464)This species does not appear on Horsey’s list of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913-1936.And when Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported only six times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester – twice in May, four times in June – with the June records quite likely being at Oak Orchard outside Region 2. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)“Thus far but one, or two, are seen once or twice during migration,” Edson reported in 1955. (WBR, 30 May 1955)That pretty much remains the pattern, with an individual or two usually reported each spring along the Lake Ontario shoreline where migrants congregate. In addition, breeding also regularly occurs at the Montezuma wetlands complex along Armitage Road on the Region 2 boundary.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, very rare spring visitant; a casual, very rare summer resident and an occasional, very rare fall visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual rare spring transient and summer resident.
Occurrence
Occurrence: There have been about 52 records since 1948, 90 percent of them occurring in spring.
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 17 April to 7 June. Many of the sightings have been at Island Cottage Woods and Durand-Eastman Park, which get the greatest coverage by birders. Usually single birds, so three on 18 May 1984 (mob) at Island Cottage was startling. (LG, June 1984) Summer/breeding status: There is one breeding record for Letchworth SP, from 1986 (Bassett, “One Hundred Years of Natural History Changes in Letchworth State Park,” The Genesee Naturalist, Winter 2007, p. 18), in “standing water with lots of dead trees and snags.” (Fox, p. 86) Probable breeding occurred at Mendon Ponds Park during the first BBA.However, the most reliable colonies are at the Oak Orchard swamp, where the first New York breeding was confirmed in 1931, and where Edson said members of the Buffalo Ornithological Society imported branches with woodpecker holes to provide suitable nest cavities. (WBR, 30 May 1955) The other reliable site is the Montezuma wetlands complex, where breeding has occurred since 1948 (Bull, p. 464), and now extends into Wayne County at Armitage Road, on the Wayne/Seneca county line. (KB 48:329) One of the more interesting nesting attempts occurred in May 1933 when “a single individual built a nest in a mail box on the porch of Mrs. O. C. Curtiss at Le Roy. . . . Possibly since it was unable to find a mate, the bird left after a few days,” Beardslee and Mitchell reported. (B&M, p. 363) Other birds are occasionally seen in summer away from known breeding locations. One was along the west lakeshore (Maley) on 16 June 1974. (GNR) Fall: There have been only seven occurrences: 28 September 1941. (AL, p. 50) One 20 September 1973 (B. Molyneaux, J. Skelly) at Greece. (KB 24:18) One 24 August 1979 (N. Henderson) Island Cottage Wood. (GNR) One 1 September 1981 (N. Henderson) Island Cottage Wood. (KB 32:42) One 21-24 August 1982 (mob) Island Cottage Wood. (GOS, October 1982) One 19 September 1987 (D. Tetlow) at Sodus Bay. (LG, October 1987) One 25 August 1991 (Davids) at Durand-Eastman Park. (LG, September 1991)

Swainson’s Warbler

Limnothlypis swainsonii
At first, Martha Reinhardt thought a Louisiana Waterthrush was producing the “clear, ringing song” along River Road, just north of Dygert Road off the east side of Letchworth SP on 14 May 1990. But when she quickly played a Peterson tape to be sure, she realized this was something different. “Remembering the somewhat similar quality and pattern” of Swainson’s Warbler, she played that tape as well, “which matched the singing bird’s very closely.” Now the hard part: actually getting this reclusive songster in sight! The bird was singing in a mixed deciduous/white pine wooded area, with a dense undergrowth of vines and shrubs on the east side of the road. A small brook ran through the area. Reinhardt searched the underbrush without success as the bird continued to sing. Finally, it flew into a white pine, about 25 to 30 feet up, and “sat there for several minutes, singing and turning from side to side and also 180 degrees occasionally.” It then flew into several small deciduous trees, repeating its behavior. “The bird sang with its bill wide open and its head thrown back; its bill was large (for a warbler),” Reinhardt wrote in her verification report. After 15 minutes – after carefully noting all the field markings – Reinhardt headed back to her car for a blank tape. She looked up the bird in her National Geographic field guide and confirmed it was, indeed, a Swainson’s Warbler. And then, to cap off an absolutely textbook approach to thoroughly documenting a rarity, she went back and tape-recorded the bird as it sang. It was our first – and only – record of Swainson’s Warbler. Fortunately, it lingered another day, allowing other birders to observe it.
Background
These ground-foraging birds, normally found in the Southeast in damp woods or in mountain thickets of laurel or rhododendron are among of the most secretive, least understood birds in North America, notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It breeds in swamps and river floodplain forests in the southeast U.S., and also in the mixed forests of the southern Appalachians, wintering on the Yucutan, Belize and Caribbean islands. “Its dense habitat (e.g. thick cane or rhododendron clumps), retreating habits and drab coloration discourage even the most persistent field ornithologists.” It is still being discovered in areas where it was previously not known to breed, but has also disappeared almost entirely from some areas, such as the DelMarVa peninsula and northeast Florida. Difficulty in obtaining any kind of reliable census makes it hard to speculate about population trends, but this species is definitely vulnerable to habitat destruction on both its breeding and wintering grounds. (BNA 126: 1, 2, 4-5, 14-15)
Status
Casual, very rare visitor.
Occurrence 1. One 14-15 May 1990 (Reinhardt, mob) River Road, Portage. (KB 40: 177) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 42: 7)

Tennessee Warbler

Leiothlypis peregrinaformerly Vermivora peregrina
During the last half of May, the snappy, three-part song of this relatively drab warbler is unmistakable. So when that same song was heard on 5 July 1976 in Webster there was little doubt about the identity of this songster. What to make of this? Tennessee Warblers are found primarily in the boreal forests of Canada, and are not known to nest in our region. However, many singing males, presumably nonbreeders or migrants, have been found well to the south and west of their normal breeding range in early to mid summer (BNA 350: 2-3), which may have been the case in this instance. Especially since the numbers of this species increased significantly from 1966 to 1979, during the same time frame of this sighting.
Background
Like Cape May, this, too, is a “spruce budworm specialist,” fluctuating in numbers from year to year as outbreaks occur. The breeding range of this ground nester is confined almost entirely to the boreal forest of Canada, extending into southeastern Alaska and the extreme northern fringe of the U.S. On its Central American wintering grounds it shows a strong affinity for coffee plantations, in addition to open forests, forest edge and gardens. This species is exceptional for migrating south during the main period of its prebasic flight-feather molt. Those significant increases from 1966 to 1979 apparently coincided with budworm outbreaks; from 1980 to 1995 significant declines correlated with diminished outbreaks. Long-term BBS data show slight population increases overall, and this species is probably more abundant now than it was in the 1800s because of its exploitation of budworm outbreaks and its use of successional habitats following commercial logging operations. (BNA 350: 1-2, 4, 6, 15)
Local history
It is fascinating to track this species’ cyclical ups and downs as measured by its occurrence in our region. Eaton (1910) considered this an uncommon transient in Monroe County, and rare in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated that single birds were the norm, both spring and fall, with a maximum count of 5 in spring and only two in fall. Dates ranged from 5 May to 6 June, and from 14 August to 12 September.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 101 times, placing it 20th among 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence. The vast majority of sightings (93) were in spring, with 52 records in the third week of May when average tallies of 10 to 20 were reported. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)“This species, like the Cape May Warbler, fluctuates greatly in numbers and, like it, is much more numerous today than in the last century,” Bull (1974) noted. (Bull, p. 473)In spring 1985, “they were quite numerous during the migration, several people commented that they were everywhere they went.” (KB 35: 188) More recently, however, it has been considered an increasingly scarce migrant. (KB 46:45, 52:241)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common spring transient; a sporadic, very rare summer visitant and a regular, fairly common fall transient.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 4 to 23 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 7 to 15 May. Subsequently, one on 26 April 1990 (T. Clark) in Wayne County set a new record early date. (GOS, June 1990)  In most years had departed by 30 May, with a late departure date of 10 June. Subsequently, one on 11 June 1996 (T. Lathrop) at Brighton was later. (GOS, September 1996) When 1,035 birds were banded at Manitou during a record-breaking two days on 18 and 19 May 1989, sixty-three were Tennessee Warblers. (LG, June 1989)
Spring maxima:       75 in May 1951, location not mentioned. (GOS, April/June 1951)      25 on 11 May 2000 (A. Watson) at Cobbs Hill, indicative of lower maxima in recent years. (GNR)     250 on 21 May 1961 (Haller) in the Avon area was an “exceptionally high” count. (KB11: 101)      67 on 22 May 1983 (D. Bassett) at Letchworth SP. (GOS, September 1983)      50+ on 20 May 1984 (D. Rice, R. Spahn) at several locations. (GOS, July/August 1984)
Summer: Not known to breed in or near our region, but there are summer sightings that fall between record late for spring and record early for fall. Late stragglers included singing males on 16 June 1961 (Listman) at Manitou (KB11: 158) and on 29 June 1968 (Kemnitzer) at Webster. (KB18: 203)There are at least three July records: one singing 9 July 1962 (N. Moon) in Irondequoit (KB12: 148), and another singing on 5 July 1976 (Kemnitzer) in Webster (KB26: 216) One on 17 July 1983 (Lloyd, Sunderlin) at Webster corresponds with the early fall arrival date in the Monroe County annotated list. (GOS, September 1983)      Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 17 July (1983) to 19 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 24 August to 8 September.In most years had departed by 2 October, with a late departure date of 17 November (1980, 1981). See also winter record below. Only eight were recorded during a 1995-1998 mid-August to mid-October census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park, Greece. (KB 49:10) It is interesting that a warbler known to start moving south in July, can also turn up at some late dates – but caution must be exercised in identifying them, since similar-appearing Orange-crowned Warbler would be more likely. Back-to-back 17 November sightings were reported in 1980 (C. Cass, Boudrie, et al) and 1981 (mob) at Conesus Lake and Webster Park. (KB 31:27; 32:42)
Fall maxima:      6 on 29 September 1993 (D. and D. Traver) Webster. (GOS, November 1993)     7 on 6 October 1982 (C. Cass. Boudrie) Durand Eastman Park. (GOS, December 1982)     Winter: A very late bird was reported on 2 December 1959 (Miller, Sunderlin) at Bay Road, Webster. (GNR)

Orange-crowned Warbler

Leiothlypis celataformerly Vermivora celata
On 4 October 1981, Mike Davids, Walt Listman and Bill Symonds found up to a half dozen of these drab songsters near Point Breeze, and more in other fields nearer the city, prompting John Brown to observe, “We may have been looking for (Orange-crowned Warbler) in the wrong places.” The sightings seemed to indicate that fall birds “should be sought not in trees with other migrating warblers but in weedy fields of goldenrod, consorting with white-crowned, white-throated and other migrating sparrows.” (BA, 8 October 1981)That was sage advice. The very drabness of this species provides a challenge for birders, who will have their best looks at it in the fall when it can be found foraging among weeds at eye level.On 8 October 1991, for example, this birder got a close look at one by patiently tracking it through Badgerow Park. “I soon spot it working tops of weeds . . . and this pattern evolves: I approach to about 15-20 feet, watch it through binoculars until it flits on north to the next clump of weeds. I edge forward again, catch sight of it, and again get good looks. Over a 15-minute period or so we repeated this several times.” (Marcotte diary entry)
Background
This shrub- and thicket-loving warbler breeds across much of the western U.S. north into Alaska, and east across much of central Canada to the Atlantic. It feeds not only on insects, but some berries and fruits, is attracted to suet feeders in winter and is often the most common species seen feeding on sap oozing from holes drilled by sapsuckers. Pacific coast populations have brightest yellow plumage; eastern populations are dullest and grayest. BBS data suggests all populations are relatively stable. (BNA 101: 1, 2)
Local history
Perhaps because of this warbler’s “inconspicuous” plumage and somewhat nondescript song, it was only rarely recorded by early observers. Eaton (1910) considered it an uncommon transient in Monroe County, and rare in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, reported only two sightings, single birds on 21 May 1919 and 18 May 1920. Leo Tanghe’s charts of birds seen within a 50-mile radius of Rochester for the years 1951-1954 list only four records of this species, one in May and three in October. (KB5: 69: 6A-6B) However, it had been recorded annually just prior, from at least 1948 to 1950, and has been reported every year but one (1960) since 1953. In more years than not, it is now reported both spring and fall. 1996 was particularly good with 10 sightings in spring, 11 in fall. (KB 46:235, 47:40)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon spring and fall transient.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual rare spring transient and a sporadic rare fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 25 April to 23 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 8 to 14 May. However, one on 22 April 1977 (J. and T. McNett) at Island Cottage was earlier. (KB 27:152; LG, May 1977)In most years had departed by 23 May, with a late departure date of 29 May. “Being more arboreal” in spring, it may be located in the taller trees by its somewhat junco-like song, Bull (1974) noted. However, “the dull-colored and inconspicuous Orange-crowned Warbler is scarcely ever noticed except by the active, discerning observer,” he added. (Bull, p. 473)Ten or more reports were notable in May 1984 (GOS, July/August 1984), 1996 (KB 46:235) and 1997 (GOS, July/August 1997) as were nine in May 1989 (GOS, September 1989) and in May 1995 (GOS, July/August 1995). Twelve were banded in May 2004 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GOS, July 2004)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 28 August to 26 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 20 September to 7 October. However, one on 24 August 1975 (Perrigo) at Braddock Bay was earlier. (LG, September 1975) In most years had departed by 25 October, with a late departure date of 30 November (1985). Just after the main fall warbler flights have wound down, this species “shows its hardiness by being one of the latest migrants of the family,” Beardslee and Mitchell noted. “At this season it is characteristically found feeding in goldenrod and among the tall weeds, or in the trees bordering such areas, along with Nashville and Tennessee Warblers, Slate-colored Juncos, and White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows.” (B&M, p. 370)Nineteen were tallied during a 1995-98 census of migrating, nonresident fall warblers in Badgerow Park, most in late September/early October foraging in weed tops. (KB 49:10) Eleven were reported from various locations in fall 1996 (KB 47:40) and 10 in October 2005. (LG, December 2005)
Fall maxima: Max. 6 on 4 October 1981 (Davids, Listman, Symonds) near Point Breeze. (BA, 8 October 1981) 4 on 26 October 1971 (Perrigo) Mendon Ponds Park. (GNR)
Winter: Not surprisingly, individuals occasionally linger into late fall and even early winter. One on 5 December 1959 (Kemnitzer, Listman) was east of Irondequoit Bay (KB10:24); one 8 January 1977 (Perrigo, R. Clark) at Mendon Ponds was extremely late (KB27: 98); two lingered into early December 1985, one at Braddock Bay (Bouton) on the 1st, the other at Durand Eastman Park (Doherty, O’Hara) on the 7th (KB36: 92), and another 25 December 1990 (Lanzone) was at North Chili into the following January. (KB41: 106) Another hardy bird was found on 20 December 1994 by Gary Chapin at Durand Eastman Park and photographed at close range. (LG, January 1995) It was relocated in the park (S. Skelly, D. Tetlow, Lehr) on 15-16 and 24 January 1995. (LG, February 1995; GOS, March 1995)

Nashville Warbler

Leiothlypis ruficapillaformerly Vermivora ruficapilla
There was only a trickle of migrating warblers in Badgerow Park the morning of 10 May 2006. But at least one species could be quickly located. “Tseebit-tseebit-tseebit ti-ti-ti-ti” came the telltale song of a Nashville Warbler foraging high in a treetop. Craning his neck back, this birder knew from past experience exactly what to look at from directly below: a yellow-white-yellow pattern from “stem to stern” and, when the bird cocked its head at just the right angle, grey on the head with a nifty white eye ring. Nashvilles returning through the park in fall would be faded but very similar in appearance. However, there would be a better chance of catching them at eye level, foraging through weedy patches and undergrowth that, in spring, had not yet emerged.
Background
This ground nester favors cut-over, second-growth areas and open forest with shrubby understory within two distinct breeding ranges, one in central and eastern Canada and northeastern U.S., the other (with brighter yellow rump) in northwest U.S. and adjacent portions of Canada. “Its ability to breed in a variety of second-growth habitats makes it a fairly common warbler throughout North America, able to maintain, or even increase, in numbers in a time of extensive lumbering and clearing,” notes Janet Williams in her profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Western populations, for example, are moving into regenerating clear-cut areas west of the Cascades. (BNA 205, 1-2, 5, 14)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a common transient in Monroe and Wayne counties, fairly common in Livingston, and an occasional breeder and summer resident in Monroe. (Eaton I: county charts) For example, E. H. Short wrote that he “took a set of 5 Nashville Warblers from the base of an old brush pile in the Davis Wood at Chili Sta. about 10 June, 1892 . . . Found nest before set was complete and made several trips before taking.” (B&M, p. 371)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, reported this as a migrant only, with average counts of one to two birds, with a maximum count of 25 in spring and five in fall. Dates ranged from 28 April to 30 May, and from 18 July to 13 October.When Leo Tanghe examined results of 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 121 times overall, primarily as a spring migrant, placing it 18th among 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence. Average counts were one to three birds. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)     Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring transient; an occasional, rare summer resident and a regular, uncommon fall transient.As for Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular fairly common spring transient, an occasional rare summer resident and a (presumably regular) fairly common fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 23 April to 13 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 2 to 6 May. Subsequently, one on 19 April 1986 (Brooks) at Braddock Bay was earlier. (GOS, July 1986) In most years had departed by 30 May, with a late departure date of 23 June.  Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 17th with 479 birds taken from the nets. This can be a common migrant, especially when grounding occurs.
Spring maxima:    44 on 10 May 1996 (Marcotte) at Badgerow Park. (GOS, July/August 1996)    52 banded on 12 May 1997 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997)    80 on 21 May 1961 (Haller) at Avon. (KB11: 101)
Summer/breeding status: As farmland was abandoned, and reverted to successional forest during the past century, it appears that this species may have expanded its breeding range in western New York. (Andrle, p. 364) McKinney found an adult with a young bird on 7 June 1948 at Bergen Swamp (GOS, August/October 1948) and nesting was confirmed there in 1950. (GOS, June/August 1950) By 1953, Leo Tanghe listed it as a rare breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically citing Bergen Swamp. (GOS, May/August 1953) Bull (1974) said this species is “apparently absent as a breeder from the lowlands of the lake plain and some distance back from the Great Lakes as well “with only single breeding records at Bergen Swamp and Chili.” (Bull, p. 477)However, during the first BBA project (1980-1985) nesting was confirmed not only in Bergen Swamp, but in single blocks in Wayne and Monroe counties. Again observed feeding young at Bergen Swamp in 1996. (GOS, October 1996) But this does not appear to be a species that is continuing to expand in our region. The second BBA project found evidence of breeding in even fewer blocks.

Though scarce at Letchworth SP, it has been found in a variety of successional habitats, park naturalist Douglas Bassett noted, sometimes near wet areas, sometimes near dry areas, sometimes at the edge of woods, and in shrubland areas undergoing transition. One on 22 June 1967 (Listman) at Manitou was away from a known breeding location. (KB 17:220) Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 17 July to 11 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 12 August to 1 September. In most years had departed by 11 October, with a late departure date of 6 December. However, an “unprecedented late fall” Nashville on 9 December 1951 (Barry, Kent, Woodams) was at the Buck Pond marshes. (GOS, June/December 1951; B&M, p. 371) That was beat in 1964 when one was at Newark (E. Stiles) from 13-23 December and was “carefully studied.” (KB15: 106)This was the sixth most common species tallied during a mid-August/mid October census of nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995 to 1998, accounting for 180 of 2,704 birds observed. (KB 49: 10) Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 24th with 234 birds taken from the nets.

Connecticut Warbler

Oporornis agilis
“A warm night with widespread rains accompanying a warm front.” Talk about a perfect prescription for a fallout of spring migrants! And that’s just what happened on 27 May 1985. How good was it? Depending on which list of noteworthies you want to believe, there were one to two Connecticut Warblers, and possibly “at least three” at Island Cottage Wood that day. (LGNR; GNR)And just to show that the same good showing was possible in fall, three more were banded on 14 September 2000 at Yanty Creek by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory. (KB 51:519)For most birders, a glimpse of even one of these rare, skulking migrants would be a highlight of the season.
Background
This “shy, retiring” wood warbler nests in spruce-tamarack bogs, muskeg, poplar woodlands and moist deciduous forests in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and central Canada, notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It is similar to Mourning and MacGillivray’s warblers, which also inhabit boreal forest, but which tend to breed in younger, disturbed second growth. It is also unlike those warblers in using two different routes for spring and fall migration. In spring, it migrates north along the Mississippi Valley; in fall, it moves east across Canada, then south along the Atlantic Coast. However, these routes overlap to a limited extent in areas closest to its breeding range, and the extent to which individual birds depart from these routes is hard to quantify given this bird’s extreme secretiveness even during migration. Not surprisingly, there are conflicting accounts of population trends, with formal census data suggesting stable or increasing numbers, but informal migration counts suggesting declines. “This is one of the poorest known species in North America. . .A study on any aspect of its general biology would be a valuable contribution.” (BNA 320: 1, 3-4, 11, 13)
Local history
“There is abundant evidence that the Connecticut Warbler was much more numerous formerly (prior to 1910) and that it has not as yet regained this former abundance,” Bull (1974) noted. (Bull, p. 514)Eaton (1910) listed it as an uncommon transient in Monroe County, but does not indicate any occurrence in Livingston or Wayne in his county charts. R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated there had been no spring records of this species. Individual fall birds had been seen on dates ranging from 5 to 25 September. However there had been only six records from 1913 to 1931, according to Horsey and Edson: 19 and 25 September 1913; 17 and 24 September 1919; 9 September 1928 and 5 September 1931. (“Thrushes and Warblers Begin Long Trip to Winter Homes,” D&C, 15 September 1931) Another was recorded the following September. (“Rare Bird Visitor Drops in On Its Way to Southlands,” D&C, 26 September 1932)For many years it was considered only a fall migrant here. (WBR, 9 June 1952) However, one reported here in May 1940 “may be a pioneer charting a shorter route between the summer and winter ranges,” Edson noted. (WBR 27 May 1940) By the early 1950s, more and more spring sightings had been reported. Indeed, when Leo Tanghe tallied up sightings by GOS members within a 50-mile radius of Rochester for the years 1951-1954, 8 of the 9 sightings were in spring. (KB5: 69: 6a-6b) Since 1951 there have been more records in spring than fall (see occurrence below).    Status
     The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, rare spring and fall transient.
Occurrence      About 123 records since 1951, with slightly more than half occurring in spring.

Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 4 May to 8 June, with a mid range of 16 to 24 May. One south of Conesus Lake on 27 April 1994 (Tunison) set a new record early date (GOS, June 1994). Also early: One on 3 May 1992 (Hartenstein) at Henrietta. (GOS, July/August 1992) Generally only one or two a season are recorded. So May 1956 was truly exceptional with as many as six reported by Genesee Ornithological Society members. (GOS, January/June 1956. Note: It is not clear whether one at Gaines was actually within Region 2 boundaries.) There were four reports in May 1981. (KB 31:165)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 3 September to 15 October (1975), with a mid range of 9 to 19 September. Subsequently, one banded on 27 August 2003 (McKinney) at Manitou was record early. (KB 53:347, GNR) Also early: one on 31 August 2002 (Davids, K. Dalton) at the east spit, Braddock Bay. (GNR) A total six birds in fall 2000, and five the following fall were very good counts. (KB 51:519, 52:61) As with White-eyed Vireo, many recent records have been of banded birds. Three, for example, were banded at Manitou during September 1998 (LG, November 1998), four during September 1999 (LG, November 1999), five of the six in 2000 (including three banded at Yanty Creek), four more September into October 2002 (LG, November, December 2002), four August into October 2003 (KB 53:347, 54:56) and three during September 2006 (LG, October 2006). Fall maxima: Three banded on 14 September 2000 (D. Bonter) at Yanty Creek, Hamlin Beach. (KB 51:519) Note: A listing of 20 on 16 May 1948 at Durand Eastman Park (GOS, May/July 1948) is probably a misprint.

MacGillivray’s Warbler

Geothlypis tolmieiformerly Oporornis tolmiei
The cool, cloudy conditions on 4 June 2003 were all too typical that spring. In fact, that’s the main reason Braddock Bay Bird Observatory bird banders were at the Kaiser-Manitou station that day: It had been decided to keep going another week because the poor weather had delayed northbound birds and “we hoped to more fully cover the entire migration,” Cindy Marino related. (KB 53:205-206) Net after net was empty as she made her round of checks at the second hour after sunrise – until she noticed a spot of yellow near the bottom of one, just inches off the ground. “Probably just a leaf,” she thought to herself, then stooped down to check it out. It was a bird. “All right! A beautiful male Mourning Warbler,” was her next thought – until she noticed the prominent white eye-ring. “Hadn’t I just recently seen something in the Sibley Guide about a western warbler . . . that was similar to Mourning Warbler?” she wondered as she headed back to the boathouse. Marino and Laurie Zagmester excitedly opened a field guide, confirmed the identification, then made a phone call to master bander Elizabeth Brooks. Everything added up to only the second New York record of this western species. The bird was banded and photographed, including one frame with the MacGillivray’s side by side with a Mourning. “By this time we had a backlog of birds to band and I released this wonderful bird, wishing it the best of luck in finding its way ‘home!’”        Background
This western counterpart of Mourning Warbler nests in riparian habitat and clearcuts of northern coniferous forests along the Rocky Mountains. “Industrial forest development should benefit MacGillivray’s Warbler because it inhabits second growth and disturbed habitat,” notes Jay Pitocchelli in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. “In fact, there is evidence that its breeding range has expanded significantly since the early exploration and development of western North America in the 1800s.” Ranching, however, can destroy habitat on both breeding grounds and its wintering areas in Central America. (BNA 159: 1, 11)
Status
    Casual, very rare visitor.
Occurrence
    1. One banded and photographed on 4 June 2003 (Marino, Zagmester) at BBBO, Manitou for our only regional record. (LG, September 2003; KB 53:347) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 56:18, including full details of the markings.)

Mourning Warbler

Geothlypis philadelphia formerly Oporornis philadelphia
The shout, “Mourning Warbler!” on 19 May 1996 sent several birders scooting up a path in Island Cottage Wood in hot pursuit. One of the birders, in particular, was anxious for a “life-look” at this reclusive songster, which he had only glimpsed once before.Twenty minutes later they gave up; the bird simply would not show itself in the tangles, bushes and May Apples, Carmen Gumina related.As the group prepared to leave the woods, another shout of “Mourning Warbler” rang out. The anxious birder rolled his eyes, “half thinking it was a cruel joke.” Yet another fruitless search ensued. (LG, June 1996) The birder would not give up, however, returning to the site of the first Mourning Warbler, determined to find it. The others waited in the parking lot, watching in awe as an “unbelievable” kettle of 1,500 Broad-winged Hawks formed overhead. As the last of the hawks disappeared to the east, the birder rejoined them, still without his Mourning. “What are you looking at,” he inquired of his colleagues. Nobody had the heart to tell him.Starting mid-May, listen for a distinctive churree churree churree turi turi in low dense thickets of brush or vine, and then very carefully make your preparations. Prefocus your binoculars on the area where the song came from. Bring your binoculars to the “ready” position. Then, and only then, pish. With any luck, a Mourning Warbler will briefly – only briefly – pop into view. The black slash at the base of bib can be startling in contrast with the rest of the bird’s plumage.
Background
This is one of North America’s few Neotropical migrants that has actually benefited from human settlement and habitat disturbance. On its breeding grounds in Canada, the Great Lakes region and Northeast U.S., it prefers “cleared but regenerating” areas of boreal forest. On its wintering grounds in Central and South America, it frequents disturbed areas with thick undergrowth – precisely the kinds of habitat that emerge after logging, mining and agriculture. BBS data suggest slightly increasing or stable populations. However, this preference for secondary growth means local distribution of this species changes frequently as plant succession progresses. (BNA 72:1, 3, 9)
Local history
“This species, like the Chestnut-sided Warbler, undoubtedly benefited from the cutting of the forest in the early nineteenth century,” Bull (1974) noted, “for both of these birds breed in second-growth areas and in clearings.” (Bull, p. 513)Eaton (1910) considered this a fairly common transient in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties, and a local summer resident in Livingston, but only occasional in Monroe. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds, with a maximum count of eight, on dates ranging from 4 May to 29 August. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 94 times, placing it in a tie for 21st among 35 warbler species in overall frequency of occurrence. Most sightings (56) were in spring. However, 17 from late June through early August made it the seventh most frequently encountered warbler during that season. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)Tanghe, in his 1953 list of nesting birds in the Rochester area, considered this an uncommon breeder, and mentioned the Burroughs Audubon and Reed Road sanctuaries as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 3 to 24 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 12 to 17 May. Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 27th with 323 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 16 on 23 May 1982 (Bassett) at Letchworth SP. (KB 32:192) 16 banded on 24 May 1993 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1993) 13 on 27 May 1978 (M. Carlson) west lakeshore. (LG, June 1978) 12 on 28 May 1985 (R. Dobson) at Island Cottage Woods. (GOS, July/August 1985) 20 observed and 17 banded on 29 May 1997 (C. Spahn, Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997)
Summer/breeding status: On 1 June 1980, a Genesee Ornithological Society field trip could hear Mourning Warblers at Letchworth SP, but was having a hard time getting any to stay in view. However, when a male Mourning Warbler flitted from a bush near the Mary Jemison Trail, park naturalist Douglas Bassett was able to find the nest. It was on the ground in a raspberry tangle, and contained five eggs, white with cinnamon speckles. (GOS, June 1980) This species skulks in dense brambles and thickets, and is more easily heard than seen. Edson in 1944 said it was “always to be found nesting in several of the cooler wooded swamps in Monroe County,” and specifically mentioned Palmer’s Glen, Reed Road Swamp, and Powder Mill Park. (WBR, 3 July 1944) The two BBA projects found evidence of nesting scattered across the region, though by the second project no evidence of breeding was found in most of eastern Monroe County. Especially evident was the string of blocks along the Genesee River through Livingston County.

At Letchworth SP an average of 110 breeding pairs has been estimated. (Levine, p. 492)
Summer maxima: 14 on 14 June 1997 (Fox) east side of Letchworth SP. (Fox, p. 88) 12 on 24 June 1979 (Genesee Ornithological Society trip) at Letchworth SP. (GOS, August 1979) 10 on 3 July 1976 (Perrigo, Mattei) at Honeoye Lake. (LG, August 1976)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 24 August to 5 October, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 2 to 17 September. Subsequently, one on 14 October 1991 (Sunderlin) at the south end of Irondequoit Bay was record late. (GOS, December 1991) “This species is exceedingly difficult to observe in autumn because of the dense vegetation at that season and because the bird does not sing then,” Bull (1974) noted. (Bull, p. 513). When Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from January 1951 through December 1954, he could find only two fall reports – both single birds – within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B) Recorded only 11 times during a mid-August/mid-October census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-1998. (KB 49:10)

Kentucky Warbler

Geothlypis formosusformerly Oporornis formosus
Something quite remarkable happened in May 1979. It began on the 8th when “the song of a Kentucky Warbler reached the ears of Mike Carlson” at Durand Eastman Park. “The bird was very obliging and sang and walked along the edge of Log Cabin Road for all present to admire” – until a speeding motorcycle spooked the bird, Jeanne Skelly noted. However, there would be many more opportunities to enjoy what, up to that point, had been one of the rarest of warblers to visit our region. Two days later – a “much quieter day in most woods” – Bob McKinney netted and banded a Kentucky at Manitou. On the 13th an RBA field trip arrived at the West Spit and “found some activity in the hedgerow,” Skelly noted. “I looked down to see a Kentucky Warbler walking near a brush pile. Those nearby raced to the spot but after an hour of searching, the bird was not found.” However, later in the afternoon it was relocated near the end of the hedgerow. “This bird is very rare in Rochester, so why three in five days?” (LG, May 1979) Indeed, how about an unprecedented seven in one month? (KB 29: 147) “Whatever prompted so many Kentuckies to expand so far beyond normal limits will remain an interesting problem for the population theorists,” Chip Perrigo noted. “So many individuals seems far above the limits of statistical coincidence.” (LG, June 1979)Alas, the 1979 influx may have been simply that. This species remains a regular, but rare visitor here.   Background
This skulking, ground-nesting bird of rich, moist deciduous woodlands of the southeastern U.S. is more often heard than seen; in early spring, the male sings almost incessantly. “Although his song may be confused with that of the Carolina Wren, or even the Ovenbird, a flash of yellow and black when he changes perches confirms that he is a Kentucky Warbler,” notes Mary Victoria McDonald in her profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. This species has been slowly expanding its range northward, and reoccupying parts of its former breeding range in Connecticut and southeastern New York. BBS data presents a “confusing array of increases and decreases, and range expansions and retreats.” Overall numbers appear to be declining, however, as sparsely scattered summer cottages in the core of its range – e.g. Blue Ridge Mountains and Cumberland Plateau – are replaced with “extensive developments with lawns,” increasing losses to cats, raccoons and other predators. Deforestation on its wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America may also be a factor. (BNA 324: 1, 3, 15)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this a rare visitor in Monroe County – reported at Chili in May 1894, at Rochester on 14 May 1904 with another apparent record on 23 August 1903 – but gave no indication of occurrence in either Livingston or Wayne counties. (Eaton II: 445)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, reported only a single record: One on 4 September 1915.Beardslee and Mitchell cite another record on 22 May 1943 at Scottsville. (B&M, p. 389) When Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from January 1951 through December 1954, this species showed up only twice – both single birds in late May – within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 6a-6b)Even in 1964, after Joseph Taylor’s May “big count” team found one in Island Cottage Woods, Alfred Starling noted that “this rare southern warbler is seldom seen here.” (WBR, 25 May 1964)Indeed, Taylor’s bird is not mentioned in the Kingbird, leaving a 16-year gap from 1954 until one was seen 6, 11 June 1970 (R. and P. Andrle et al) in Genesee Falls. (GNR) “Now one of our rarest warblers,” Bull (1974) noted, adding that this species, at the northern limits of its range, “has greatly decreased since about 1900, and has withdrawn over much of its former northeastern nesting range.” (Bull, p. 512)There were sightings in 1974 and 1976, and then Tom Hampson of Berkeley Street got a very close look at one on 14 May 1978 that struck his den window. He found it lying stunned on the ground. “Close examination ascertained its identity,” John Brown reported. “After about half an hour the warbler flew away, apparently fully recovered.” (BA, 14 June 1978).This species has been recorded almost annually since.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, very rare to rare spring visitant and a sporadic, very rare fall visitant. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an occasional very rare spring transient.
Occurrence
There have been about 61 records since 1952, invariably single birds and almost always in spring.
     Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 30 April to 25 June.      Usually one or two records per spring is the norm, so the seven sightings in spring 1979 was something of an “explosion.” (KB29: 147) At least five were reported in May 1986, with at least three of the sightings in Island Cottage Wood. (LGNR, GNR)    Fall: Only nine records:      One on 23 Aug 1903. (Eaton I: Monroe County chart)     One on 4 September 1915. (Horsey)     One on 14 September 1976 (Lloyd) at Webster. (KB 27:37);      One on 19 September 1979 (Henderson) at Island Cottage. (KB 30: 33)     One on 10 September 1980 (C. Cass) at Braddock Bay. (KB 31:27)     One on 21 September 1980 (J. Skelly, K. Doris) at Braddock Bay. (KB 31:27)     One on 18 August 1982 (Listman) at Webster. (KB 32:273)     One on 31 August 1999 (Ewald) at Greece. (KB 49:333)     One on 31 August 2001 (D. Tetlow) at Braddock Bay. (KB 51:785)
Misc.
This rare migrant has an uncanny ability to disappear in the undergrowth – but can also just as suddenly appear in full view. Marty Robinson, for example, considered himself very fortunate when Dominic Sherony located a bird previously found by Bob Beal in Brighton Town Park on 13 May 1989. Sherony’s shouts brought Robinson to the scene just in time to glimpse the male “before it flew across the path and disappeared beneath a large patch of May apples.” However, a few minutes later it “flew back across the path to an area containing a few fallen logs. We were able to study the bird on and off for the next twenty minutes or so. While it showed excellent ability to disappear, per its reputation, it also spent a good amount of time in the open, allowing us excellent views. It did not seem to be overly spooked by our presence . . .” (LG, May 1989)  Bob Marcotte had a similar experience with one in Badgerow Park. On a cool May morning of northerly breezes, after temperatures well down toward the 30s overnight, he wandered through Badgerow Park with very low expectations given the “downright wintry chill.” Instead, he found his “bird of the spring.” When he spished in the direction of a tangle of brush at the base of a tall willow, “a yellowish warbler popped out, gave a loud low chuck that sounded unlike any I had heard, flew over under the willow, and perched in the low brush and stems at its base.” One look through the binoculars was all he needed. The face pattern was unmistakable: Kentucky Warbler. “I could see yellow underparts, darker upperparts, fleshy colored legs and then he was gone, back into the brush behind the willow.” This bird, first seen on 14 May 1997, was apparently in no hurry to move on during the cool days that followed; it was seen again in the park, just a short distance away from the first sighting, on 18 May, again keeping low, but this time walking along the side of a creek for a minute or so where it could be more easily observed. (Personal notes)

Common Yellowthroat

Geothlypis trichas
Witchety-witchety-witchety. The telltale song of a Common Yellowthroat could be heard along the north side of the road that led to the Northwest Quadrant Treatment Plant. When this birder turned from watching Bobolinks in the grassy field to the south, he could see why a yellowthroat might be singing to the north. It was perfect habitat for this common warbler. The edge of a woodlot, fronted by a narrow band of shrubs, with a narrow fringe of cattails in front and, finally, a strip of unmowed grass coming up to the road itself.Witchety-witchety-witchety.The song seemed to be coming from just inside the canopy of trees. The birder knew he need only spish to bring the bird into view. At first only a pair of Song Sparrows responded, chirping in alarm from the branches of a willow. One of them even briefly flying out toward the birder. The yellowthroat still had not shown itself. More spishing. The yellowthroat could now be heard, no longer singing, but giving its raspy, scolding call as it came up to the shrub border to investigate.There… a movement soon revealed its presence. The yellowthroat kept to the edge, but was by no means afraid to show itself, perching long enough for the birder to focus his spotting scope on the bird. He admired the grayish border that separated the black face mask from the olive plumage on top of the bird’s head. The eye was beady and black. As he packed up to leave, the birder could hear the yellowthroat again.Witchety-witchety-witchety. Back inside its chosen woodlot.
Background
This is not warbler of dense forests, “but frequents the swampy thicket and the edges of moist woods, the margins of wooded streams, or dense tangles in damp open woodlands,” Eaton (1914) wrote. “Where garden shrubbery lies near the edge of ponds or swampy tracts, the Yellow-throat will sometimes make its home among the berry and currant bushes or about the edges of the garden shrubbery. It spends most of its time near the ground but is rarely seen walking about like some of its near relatives, but almost continually flitting from one weed or low bush to another, peering about in all sorts of crannies for caterpillars and other small insects.” (Eaton II: 453-454). Indeed, their behavior is “wrenlike, with nervous actions and frequent cocking and twitching of the tail.” (Dunn and Garrett, p. 514)This is one of North America’s most widespread warblers, breeding throughout the continental United States (including parts of Alaska) and in parts of all Canadian provinces, notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. At least 13 subspecies have been recognized as a result of “complex geographic variation.” Though it prefers wet areas, it also is found in prairies and pine forests, regenerating clear cuts, abandoned quarries and even airport runways where thick vegetation occurs. BBS data suggests populations are generally steady to slightly decreasing. As a whole, this species is not threatened or endangered. (BNA 448: 1, 4, 7-8, 17-18)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this an abundant summer resident in Monroe County, and common in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to four birds, with a maximum count of 20, on dates ranging from 28 April to 19 October. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was fourth most frequently encountered warbler species overall, showing up on 326 lists within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. It was the second most frequently encountered warbler species late June through early August, trailing only Yellow Warbler. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)In 1953, Tanghe listed this as an abundant breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically listing the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and Lakeshore Country Club as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common summer resident and an irregular, rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an occasional rare winter visitant, a (presumably regular common) spring and fall transient and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 25 April to 17 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 2 to 6 May. Subsequently one on 20 April 1991 (Sherony) at Fairport was record early. (GOS, June 1991; KB 41:184) Apparently this record was either overlooked or discarded when one at Greece on 23 April 1994 was also reported record early. (GOS, June 1994) Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 8th with 1,355 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 65 on 13 May 1961 (Rosche) Letchworth SP. (KB 11:101) 27 (banded) on 15 May 1996 (Brooks, G. Jones) Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1996) 100 on 21 May 1976, location unknown. (LG, October 1976)
Breeding status: The Breeding Bird Atlas projects indicate this species is in a virtual dead heat with Yellow Warbler as the most widespread breeding warbler in our region, with evidence of breeding found in almost every block assigned to our region.

“A count of 50 by M. Davids on 09 Jul 1984 southeast of Conesus is indicative of the abundance of this bird,” Fox notes. (Fox, p. 88)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 15 September to 27 November (1983), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 25 September to 10 October. However, one on 29 November 1952 (McNetts) was even later. (GNR) Note also winter records.Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 11th with 765 birds taken from the nets. One was found on the 16th floor of the Kodak office building 27 October 1955 – no doubt a migrant. (GOS, April-November 1955)
Winter: Individuals occasionally linger into winter. One in the marshes around Glen Haven in December 1937 marked “the first time in history that this bird has been recorded in Monroe County in December,” Edson reported. (WBR, 20 December 1937) One 11 January 1959 (Starling) was at Powder Mill Park. (KB9:32)Kingbird Region 2 reports mention winter records in 16 of 25 seasons from the winter of 1981-82 through 2005-2006, but primarily in December, with only five reports in January. However, one to two were found at Conesus Lake in January each of the last three years in that span. Misc.
Banded birds: One banded at Manitou on 20 September 2001 was found dead near Camden, Maine on 11 May 2004, about 433 miles NNE of Braddock Bay. (The Marsh Wren, Summer 2004)

Hooded Warbler

Setophaga citrinaformerly Wilsonia citrina
This birder was pleasantly surprised to encounter a boldly plumaged male Hooded Warbler singing repeatedly in a wooded area next to Rose’s Marsh during the Breeding Bird Atlas project on 25 June 2001. He returned eagerly a week later, hoping it would again be present and could be entered as at least a probable breeding species for this block. It wasn’t to be found. Just a floater, he assumed, and thought no more of it. However, other atlasers also were finding this species in other blocks all along the lakeshore. A comparison of maps from the first and second project show the full magnitude of what had happened: a major expansion in this species’ breeding range. That is welcome news. The striking plumage alone can inspire. For example, among the many prominent figures of Rochester birding, Allan Klonick certainly ranks high. His leap into Lake Ontario to retrieve a Silver Gull became the stuff of legend. His work to preserve the Reed Road Sanctuary and Island Cottage Wood is an enduring legacy. And to think it might not have happened if it weren’t for a Hooded Warbler he saw at age 11 in the woods near Rochester’s School No. 1. That’s the bird that inspired his lifelong interest in ornithology. (Marcotte, p. 28) Background
This strikingly plumaged songster breeds across much of the eastern U.S., occupying cypress-gum swamps in the southern part of its range, and mixed hardwood forests in the north. It is considered a forest-interior species because it is generally restricted to larger woodlots, though territories usually include small clearings where there is a shrub understory for nesting. Interestingly, it is highly territorial on its wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America, where males are most likely to be found in mature forest and females in scrub, secondary forest and disturbed habitat. Frequent tail fanning reveals white outer tail spots, and may help flush insect prey. As many as one-third of females produce offspring fathered by a neighboring male. Reports of breeding pairs have increased greatly in southern Ontario province during the last 20-30 years, suggesting northward range expansion, though part of the increase may be due to better reporting. Much regional variation in population trends, but continentwide shows overall slight increase, with significant increases in eastern U.S., nonsignificant decreases in central U.S. (BNA 110: 1-3, 4, 7, 13)
Local history
Eaton (1914) cited “breeding colonies of considerable extent” in Wayne County and near Brockport and Forest Lawn in Monroe. He listed it as a fairly common transient and “local” summer resident in Monroe and a local, common summer resident in Wayne, but gave no indication of occurrence in Livingston. (Eaton II: 458, I: county charts) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated single birds were the norm, on dates ranging from 9 May to 19 September. A maximum of 25 were reported in 1917.The 1947 list of breeding birds in the Goshawk indicated this species nested at Bergen Swamp where adults were “mothering a young cowbird.” (GOS, November 1947) Leo Tanghe in 1953 listed Bergen Swamp and Mendon Ponds Park as breeding locations for this “uncommon” nester. (GOS, May/August 1953) And the following year, Edson wrote “there is always a nest or two to be found in the moist woods in the vicinity of Durand-Eastman Park or Powder Mill Park.” (WBR, 21 June 1954)When Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 102 times, placing it 19th among 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence. But it tied with Ovenbird as the fourth most frequently encountered warbler species during late June through early August, with 32 records. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)Since 1953, it had “decreased considerably in numbers” in western New York, Beardslee and Mitchell wrote in 1965, and had become “rather locally distributed.” (B&M, p. 393)Pellet Road in Webster was one such location, where 4 to 6 were seen by the Kemnitzers all during July 1956. (GNR) This location was still considered a “regular breeding station” for this species in 1972. (KB 22:169) However, in 1976, no reports of nesting were received in June anywhere in the region, prompting Richard O’Hara to note that this species “is very scarce here now.” (KB 26: 216)Fortunately, there has been a dramatic reversal. The BBA projects document a significant expansion in this species’ breeding presence in our region.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon spring and fall transient and an irregular, rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring transient and a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 26 April to 26 May, with a mid range of 9 to 14 May. However, one on 24 April 1976 (Ladwig, RBA trip) at Island Cottage Woods (LG, May 1976) was earlier, tied by another on 24 April 2005 (R. Spahn) at Braddock Bay. (KB 55: 272)
Spring maxima: 20 on 22 May 1983 (Bassett) at Letchworth SP. (GOS, September 1983) 40 on 22 May 1988 (R. Spahn, McKinney) at Letchworth SP. (GOS, July 1988) 23 on 23 May 1982 (Bassett) at Letchworth SP. (KB 32: 192) 49 on 23 May 1987 (Bassett, Conklin) at Letchworth SP. (GOS, July 1987)
Summer/breeding status: One of the most dramatic developments documented by the Breeding Bird Atlas projects is the startling expansion of Hooded Warbler as a breeding species in our region. During the first project, most evidence of breeding was found, not from Monroe and Wayne as in Eaton’s time, but in the higher elevations to the south, including southern portions of Livingston County where Eaton had not even listed this species. (Eaton I: county charts)Stephan Eaton in 1998 suggested this species had moved north from large populations in extreme northwestern Pennsylvania. (Levine, p. 494)During the second project, this species was found several blocks all along the lake plain and lakeshore as well. Indeed, by 2004, BBA workers found them “in nearly every Lake Plain Block with a sizable woodlot clear across the region,” project coordinator Robert Spahn reported. (GOS, October 2004) The number of blocks with evidence of breeding nearly quadrupled throughout the region.

It is now among the most common warblers at Letchworth SP, where 534 pairs have recently been estimated. (Fox, p. 88; Levine, p. 494) Kurt Fox found “at least 45” on 15 June 1997 on the east side of the park (Fox, p. 88); another 65 were tallied at Letchworth on 6 June 2005 on a “field trip drive through.” (KB 55:364)It inhabits a range of mixed woods, not so much in evergreen tracts but often at edges of them, where there is some shrubby understory, notes park naturalist Douglas Bassett. Indeed, “it is easily heard singing in the more mature forest tracts in late May through July (and sometimes even in mid-September) throughout the southern portion of (Livingston) county,” Fox observed. (Fox, p. 88)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 15 August to 1 November (1980), with a mid range of 6 to 19 September. One on 12 August 1980 (S. Spahn) at Webster was an earlier “first of fall. (GOS, October 1980) Only three were tallied during a mid-August/mid October census of nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995 to 1998. (KB 49: 10)

American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla
As this birder drove along Chase Road in June 2006, through a rural mosaic of grassy pastures, freshly plowed farm fields and encroaching residential lots, one fragment of song, heard through the open car window, seemed particularly out of place.“Sweeva, sweeva, sweeva.”American redstart? A narrow finger of a woodlot, no wider than a football field, came up to the road. The birder turned around, drove back and stopped to listen. Sure enough. A redstart. Maybe two. The birder was not overly surprised: These are probably our most common resident warblers of wooded tracts. And yet, even if the redstarts succeeded in breeding in this particular narrow woodlot, he couldn’t help wondering: would they be feeding young redstarts or young cowbirds in another month or so?
Background
“This flaming little warbler is one of the liveliest of the family, continually fluttering about among the foliage and darting after flying insects, being almost as expert a flycatcher as the Wood pewee . . .” Eaton (1914) observed. (Eaton II: 465)It is also a “tame and inquisitive warbler, quite responsive to pishing . . . The partial spreading and drooping of the wings, along with the fanning of the tail, are conspicuous and characteristic behaviors.” (Dunn and Garrett, p. 420) The brightly colored “flash patterns” which this lively warbler displays while fanning its tail and drooping its wings are not just for show: They apparently flush insect prey from vegetation. This species occupies a wide variety of open wooded habitats, preferably with plenty of shrubs and near water, in a breeding range that extends from northwestern Canada to the maritimes, and south through most of the eastern U.S., more sparingly in Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. It “appears to have declined patchily and at different times in the last 50 years across its breeding range, largely because of loss of preferred habitat – but not so much yet as to amount to a significant range shift,” notes the profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Some of the most significant declines have occurred in New England, perhaps because of aging of forests, which, for unknown reasons, lessened their suitability for this species. (BNA 277: 1-3, 5, 24)
Local history
Eaton “found its nest . . . in all the deciduous woodlands examined in eastern, central and western New York.” As a summer resident it was abundant in Monroe County, common in Wayne and also occurring in Livingston. (Eaton II: 465, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to four birds, with a maximum count of 125, on dates ranging from 28 April to 14 October. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was the third most frequently encountered warbler overall, reported 331 times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. It also was the third most frequently encountered from late June through early August, trailing only Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)In 1953, Tanghe listed this as an abundant breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically mentioning Bushnell’s Basin and Ellison Park as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 28 April to 13 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 8 May. Subsequently, one at Braddock Bay on 27 April 1994 (Liguori) was record early. (GOS, June 1994)This was the fourth most common species banded by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during its spring banding for 1999-2006, with a total of 1,686 taken from the nets. Spring maxima: 80 on 17 May 1995 at Island Cottage Woods. (KB 45:190) 125 were stranded on 24 May 1917 at Tryon Park sewage disposal plant. (Bull, p. 521, WBR, 9 May 1960) 54 banded on 21 May 2001 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR) 54 banded on 23 May 2002 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR) 60+ on 25 May 1996 (mob) several locations. (GOS, July/August 1996) 50+ and 31 banded on 29 May 1997 (C. Spahn, Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997) Summer/breeding status: The BBA projects confirm this is one of our most widespread breeding warblers, trailing only Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat in number of blocks with evidence of breeding. Generally it is missing only where cropland and orchards have replaced deciduous woods. “Damp woods and low scrub is the place to find this breeding bird,” Fox notes. (Fox, p. 86)

Summer maxima: 30 on 17 June 1978 (J. and W. Listman, Perrigo) along Culver Road, East Barre. (LG, July 1978)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 2 September to 24 November (1982), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 10 to 28 September. However, two on 28 November 1976 (A. and J. Foster) at Mendon Ponds (KB27: 37) were even later. So was one on 26 November 1980 (A. Wood) at Brighton. (KB31: 28)Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 19th with 415 birds taken from the nets.
Fall maxima: 30 on 28 August 1976 (Perrigo) west lakeshore. (LG, September 1976)
Misc.
It is common knowledge among birders and backyard feeder watchers that a steady drip, drip, drip of water is an irresistible magnet for birds, especially during migration. Even spray thrown from a lawn sprinkler can cause a congregation.During a movement of migrants in September 1989, Bob Dobson “had just started a sprinkler in a wildflower bed and the spray was reaching overhanging tree limbs,” his brother Frank noted. “Beads of the cooling moisture dripped steadily . . . pulling in the warm, thirsty birds.” Two colorful redstarts, a male and a female, “took turns reveling in the watery spray. The male was content to just sit on an overhanging limb and let the water pass over him. For several minutes he shook his feathers, preened and just generally enjoyed the refreshing water. “The female used a different approach, sometimes hovering in the spray and then retreating to dry perches nearby to shake, preen and straighten feathers.” (Birds, 17 September 1989)Banded birds: One banded at Manitou on 12 May 1997 was retrapped on 14 May 1998 on the north shore of Lake Ontario near Picton, Ontario, Canada. (GOS, February 1999)

Cape May Warbler

Setophaga tigrinaformerly Dendroica tigrina
In the middle of May, a birding trip to Highland Park is bound to be fraught with conflict. What to look at? Birds? Or blooms?One Genesee Ornithological Society field trip enjoyed the best of both worlds on 13 May 1992. Amid the lilacs, rhododendrons, weeping cherries, and magnolias they found “a Cape May Warbler highlighted by sunshine among white crabapple blossoms.”No wonder the leaders described this as “migration birding at its best”! (GOS, June 1992) Carson Jarvis didn’t even have to leave his Rochester area home in May 1948 to enjoy an encounter with this species. “The most interesting experience was having a flock of approximately 30 Cape Mays stay in a part of my hedgerow for over a week. They worked and worked over a certain group of trees and bushes and my only regret is that they decided to go on, for the feed is still here.” (GOS, May/July 1948) Many birders today would envy seeing that many Cape Mays. This species has been reported in much smaller numbers in recent years.      Background  This inhabitant of boreal coniferous forests is a “spruce budworm specialist” – increasing in numbers where there are outbreaks of the budworm, then sometimes disappearing altogether until the next outbreak occurs in a “boom and bust” population cycle. Larger clutch size than most other wood-warblers apparently helps it capitalize on outbreaks with rapid population increases. Forages and nests higher in the canopy than most other spruce wood-warblers. Migration pattern appears to be elliptical: In spring, more birds are found in the Midwest than along the Atlantic Coast. Just the reverse happens in the fall. On the Caribbean islands where it winters, it occupies a variety of habitats, including gardens, parklands, pastures and settled areas, and uses its semitubular tongue to feed on nectar as part of its winter diet. Populations have fluctuated regionally, corresponding to budworm outbreaks. “Budworm outbreaks have occurred more frequently in twentieth century than previously,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series, and “fire protection and use of pesticide spraying maintain forest stands but do not knock out budworms. As a result, populations of Cape May Warblers may be at or near historic maxima. Interestingly, by maintaining budworm populations at low densities, programs to control budworm populations may be responsible for population stabilization of spruce budworm specialists, including Cape May warbler. (BNA 332: 1- 3, 5, 10-11)
Local history
Migrant populations fluctuate in response to the supply of spruce budworms on the breeding grounds to the north. (Levine, p. 463)Eaton (1910) considered this to be an uncommon transient in Monroe County, and rare in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)However, his notebooks showed annual encounters with this species at Rochester from 1902 to 1907. For example, on 12 May 1902, he saw a male “the first I ever studied through a glass” low down “among the bushes and brush in the farther corner of Cobb’s hill, restlessly searching for insects. Could make out with perfect distinctness the reddish ear spot and large yellow patch behind it…”On 17 May 1907, again at Cobb’s Hill, he found a female in the tops of the tall chestnut trees, and “added her to my collection, thereby verifying to a doubting friend the possibility of distinguishing with a glass the female Cape May in the tree tops.”He found five more there the next day, and four others by the end of May at Cobb’s Hill and two other locations, prompting him to observe “this year has been unprecedented for the numbers of this species in this vicinity.” (Eaton I: 59-60)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average spring counts of one to three birds, with a maximum count of five, on dates ranging from 3 to 29 May. In fall, single birds were the norm, with a maximum count of four, on dates ranging from 12 August to 25 September. However, as many as 60 were tallied in May 1948 (O’Hara, Nelson) in Highland Park. (GOS, May/July 1948)When Leo Tanghe analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 82 times, ranking 23rd of 35 warbler species in frequency seen, but with average counts as high as 10 birds in spring. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)These birds were reported to be “particularly common” here during migration in September 1957. (BA, 19 September 1957)Beardslee and Mitchell (1965) said “this is one of the birds which have increased in numbers during recent years” in western New York. (B&M, p. 375) A “large increase” in numbers of migrants was noted in the early 1970s here. (KB 24:136). In spring 1975 an excellent flight of up to ten a day was reported. (KB 25:154) In recent years, however, relatively few birds have been sighted. (KB 46:45, 51:696)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring transient and a regular, uncommon fall transient.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably irregular) uncommon spring and fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 20 April (1980) to 14 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 11 May. In most years had departed by 26 May, with a late departure date of 30 June. Note: not clear why another on 1 June 1995 at Mendon Ponds Park was reported record late. (GOS, September 1995)One of the rarer warblers banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, with only five taken from the nets during 1999 to 2004.
Spring maxima:   Max. 60 from 11-23 May 1948 (O’Hara, Nelson) at Highland Park. (GOS, May/July 1948)    26 on 20 May 1984 (D. Bassett, P. Conklin) at Letchworth SP. (GOS, July/August 1984)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 11 August (1978) to 16 September with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 22 August to 3 September. Subsequently, one at Manitou on 8 August 1997 (Ewald) set a new early arrival date. (GOS, October 1997) In most years had departed by 28 September, with a late departure date of 15 November when Doherty and Listman had one at Manitou in 1969. (GNR) However, one at Sodus on 20 November 1983 (M. and J. Tetlow) tarried later. (LG, December 1983) See also winter records below.Only eleven were tallied during a 1995-1998 census of nonresident, migrating fall warblers in Badgerow Park. (KB 49:10) Twenty-five were taken from the nets during fall banding at Manitou by the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2004.
Fall maxima:    20+ “in one hour” on 30 August 1974 (Claffey) at Brighton. (GOS, October 1974)    50 on 20 August 1976 (Perrigo) at Braddock Bay. (LG, September 1976) Winter: One 6-25 January 1987 (A. Stewart, Brooks) was at Pittsford (GOS, March 1987); another on 9 December 1984 (T. Tetlow) was at Perinton. (LG, February 1985) “This species has been observed with surprising frequency through mid-January (occasionally later) in central and eastern U.S., where many have survived at feeders.” (BNA 332: 3)
Misc.
Warren Lloyd of Ridge Road, Webster, found an effective way to bring fall warblers into easy viewing distance during a hot, dry spell in late August 1973. He kept a fine spray from his garden hose turned on a large bush in his yard, turning it into “an oasis which attracts dozens of small birds,” which “seem to be oblivious to observers only a few feet away,” John Brown reported. (BA, 30 August 1973) Among the feathered bathers: “no less than nine Cape May warblers in the bush at the same time.”

Cerulean Warbler***

Setophaga ceruleaformerly Dendroica cerulea
Several years earlier, this birder had seen his first Cerulean Warbler in the wet woodlands on both sides of Norway Road, just north of West Ridge Road. In June 2006, it seemed like the best place to go for another glimpse of this colorful species. He parked about half way along the best stretch of the road, and walked at least 100 yards south, listening intently. Amid the chorus of vireos could be heard an encouraging number of Ovenbirds, the usual redstarts, Veeries from deep inside the woods, and a spluttering Blue-winged Warbler. But not a single Cerulean. The birder was dismayed. All the stock phrases came to mind: “local extirpation,” “declining neotropical migrant.” And then, as he returned to his car, about to give up, he heard that telltale song, buzzily ascending at the end. A Cerulean was right above his car. Another was just down the road. Just as he remembered from before, the birds stayed mostly in the upper canopy of the trees, working from branch to branch, singing regularly. From below, it was easy to make out the neat little breast band, and its wing bars. But only occasionally could he glimpse the sky blue back when it flew.It was enough. The Ceruleans were still here.
Background
“The Cerulean spends most of its time cavorting through the highest tree tops in the most lively manner, singing almost constantly its ‘zwee-zwee, zwee, wee-ee,’ during the nesting season,” Eaton (1914) wrote. “During rainy days they descend to the lower limbs where they may easily be observed.” (Eaton II:412). The Cerulean nests in mature, older deciduous forests with broken canopies across much of the eastern U.S. Once among the most abundant breeding warblers in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, its numbers plummeted in the 1900s, notes Paul Hamel in the profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. “Yet even in the face of these steep declines, some populations are currently expanding,” especially in the northeastern part of its range where forests have replaced abandoned farmland. Major causes of decline are believed to be loss of mature forest along stream valleys, fragmentation and increasing isolation of remaining woodlands, shorter rotations between timber harvests (preventing woodlands from maturing) and loss of key tree species to various diseases and insect pests. (BNA 511: 1, 12-13)
Local history
Eaton described this as “locally a common summer resident in various localities of central and western New York” including the “Penfield swamp.” He listed it as a local summer resident for Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties. (Eaton II:412, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated single birds were the norm, with a maximum count of six, on dates ranging from 6 May to 18 July.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 135 times, making it the 16th most frequently encountered of 35 warbler species. It was the sixth most commonly encountered in summer (23 records) but one of the least common in fall, with only six reports. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)Tanghe, in his 1953 list of nesting birds in the Rochester area, considered this a common breeder at such locations as the Reed Road sanctuary and Bushnell’s Basin. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular uncommon) spring transient and a regular uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 2 to 21 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 9 to 15 May. Subsequently, one at Oatka Creek in Mumford on 30 April 1991 (P. Martin) tied the record early date (GOS, June 1991) set the year before when two (F. Dobson) were at Island Cottage Wood. (GOS, June 1990)Because we are near the northeast edge of its range, it usually does not appear in large numbers in migration. (Bull, p. 489) Indeed, only a single bird was taken from the nets during spring banding at Manitou by the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory from 1999 to 2004.
Spring maxima: 15 on 7 May 2000 (Kimball) at Nations Road. (GNR) 20+ on 19 May 1991 at several locations, perhaps including birds already on territory. (GOS, July/August 1991) Max. 20 in May 1951, location not given. (GOS, April/June 1951) Summer/breeding status: “When gathering nest materials they give no heed to the presence of human beings but fly to the ground or along the logs and fallen trees within a dozen feet, carrying the materials directly to the nest,” Eaton noted. (Eaton II: 412)Nesting was confirmed at Tryon Park (next to Irondequoit Bay) in 1950 (GOS, June/August 1950) and at Reed Road Sanctuary the following year. (GOS, January/February 1952)Beardslee and Mitchell (1965) believed the spring migration pattern of this species was “confined almost exclusively to an easterly movement along the northern shore of Lake Erie, across the Niagara River, and through the northern counties of western New York. It is extremely unusual to find the bird elsewhere, and our breeding records are without exception from the area described.” (B&M, p. 379) Indeed, the Breeding Bird Atlas projects indicate our region contained the highest number of blocks with evidence of breeding in the state. This occurs primarily in blocks along the Genesee River all through Livingston County, in the wet woodlands of the west lakeshore, and in parts of extreme eastern Wayne County, along the Cayuga County line and in the Montezuma wetlands complex. In the midst of the second project, this species was reported continuing to expand its “nesting toehold” on the lake shore. (LG, September 2002)But the second project also suggested some erosion had occurred in the number of blocks reporting evidence of breeding, with much of the loss in the heavily developed areas of Monroe County. This attractive summer resident is very localized, preferring wooded swamps, wet woodlands, and tall trees along water. Norway Road near West Ridge Road in Orleans County is a favored spot on June field trips. In his June Birding Tips in 1993, Bill Symonds also recommended Euler Road in Ogden and Culver Road near Albion. (LG, May 1993)Some of the highest concentrations occur along the Clyde River at Montezuma NWR and Galen WMA. 10-25 pairs breed at Galen, and another 15 to 20 pairs a year at Letchworth SP. (Burger and Liner, pp. 62, 76) At Letchworth, it prefers the tall deciduous forests of bottomlands, and in some cases taller trees in valleys, park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes.
Summer maxima: 8 on 4 June 1960 (Genesee Ornithological Society trip) Powder Mill Park/Fishers area. (KB 10:102) 10 on 13 June 1976 (Linehan, M. Carlson, Perrigo) along Euler Road, Ogden. (LG, July 1976) 8 on 3 July 1993 (C. and K. Griffith) Norway Road. (LG, August 1993)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 10 August to 16 September (1976), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 18 to 29 August. However, one on 9 October 1948 (Barlow, McKinney) at the Odenbach Shipyard in Greece was later. (GNR) This can be a hard warbler to find in fall. Tanghe’s look at sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54 showed only one record in September and one in October (four others in late August were probably migrants as well). (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)Only four were tallied during a mid-August/mid-October census of nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995 to 1998 (KB 49:10), and none were recorded during fall banding at Manitou by the Braddock Bird Observatory from 1999 through 2004.

Northern Parula

Setophaga americanaformerly Parula Americana
“A week ago the advance-guard of warblers was here, but to-day the migrating hosts of early May have fairly overrun the streets of the city and taken possession of every grove in the country,” Eaton wrote in May 1902 at Rochester. “We felt sure of this when the dainty parula, or yellow-backed warbler, came to our plum tree, and displayed her beautiful yellow breast with its dash of chestnut red while we were at breakfast Saturday morning.” (“Flood-tide of bird migration,” D&C, 10 May 1902) This colorful warbler is often heard before it is seen. Which is all well and good. The song is interesting, with the notes climbing a ladder before falling off the top. But the real pleasure of encountering a parula is the opportunity to get a glimpse of its colorful plumage. “And then we heard a song I look forward to each spring . . . A Northern Parula, high up in the cottonwoods. This was one bird that I wanted the group to not only hear but see,” this birder related after leading a field trip on 17 May 1998.  He led half the participants into a wooded area at Badgerow Park, while the rest stayed behind in a parking lot to “escape the bugs.” This would only take about five minutes, he assured them. “It did not help matters that the bird was so much smaller than the leaves that hid it.. . . Five minutes stretched into at least 15 before we finally caught sight of the parula – a beautiful male picking caterpillars off the leaves and branches. It was worth the effort!” (LG, June 1998)     Background
This small warbler seems to thrive in riparian forests, where it can build its nest in hanging bunches of beard or Spanish moss. It breeds in across much of the eastern U.S. and in southern Canada from Manitoba to the maritimes, and winters primarily in eastern Mexico and the West Indies, where it is much more of a generalist in its use of habitat. It has been largely extirpated or greatly reduced as a breeder in many northeastern states, where air pollution limits growth of the mosses used for nesting; and has been eradicated in other areas because of habitat destruction. But it has extended its breeding range in the Great Smoky Mountains and in Virginia, and has even been reported nesting with increasing frequency in California. Despite declining trends according to BBS data, this species is ranked among least likely to become extinct. However, preservation of large forest tracts with sufficient growth of moss for nesting is critical. (BNA 215: 1-3, 6, 15-16)
Local history    The buzzy ascending song was heard more often in New York in the early 1900s when trees still were festooned with hanging lichen, providing this species its breeding niche. Eaton (1910) considered this a common transient in Monroe and Wayne counties, and fairly common in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated single birds were the norm, with a maximum counts of three in both spring and fall (see exception below), on dates ranging from 30 April to 2 June, and from 29 August to 22 October. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 70 times overall, placing it 24th among 35 warbler species. Most sightings (53) were in spring, with average counts of one to three birds. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)Bull (1974) noted its population had “crashed badly” in recent years. (Bull, p. 477) Decline is linked to disappearance of lichen due to air contamination.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon spring and fall transient and a casual, very rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual very rare winter visitant, a (presumably irregular) uncommon spring and fall transient, and a (hypothetical very rare summer resident).
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 18 April (1981) to 13 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 10 May. In most years had departed by 26 May, with a late departure date of 4 June. Horsey (1937) listed four hundred in May 1917, without specifying whether that was for the entire month or a single day. This may be a reference to 24 May 1917 at the Tryon Park sewage disposal plant when many warblers perished during a cold snap. (WBR 9 May 1960) Even for an entire month, it would be impressive. Now even half a dozen migrants in a day is noteworthy.
Spring maxima:    5 on 15 May 2000 (A. Watson) at Cobbs Hill. (LG, June 2000)    6 on 18 May 1996 (Sherony, M. Tetlow) at Chimney Bluffs. (GOS, July/August 1996)    6 on 21 May 1967 (O’Hara et al) Durand-Eastman Park. (KB17: 158)    6 on 25 May 1997 (A. Watson) at Cobbs Hill. (GOS, July/August 1997)
Summer/breeding status: Eaton (1914) wrote of finding “a few pairs nesting in the gullies of the Finger Lake Region and in various scattered peat swamps of western New York.” (Eaton II: 396) Letchworth SP has apparently been the only reliable place to still find this species during the breeding season in Region 2. A male was singing there in late June 1964 (BA, 2 July 1964), again the following June (KB 14:222), and three were tallied there on an RBA field trip on 11 June 1977. (LG, July 1977) More than one singing near the Glen Iris Inn in late June 1978 suggested “that this species is apparently nesting in that area,” John Brown reported. (BA, 28 June 1978) Indeed, “its ascending song with the last note dropping is easily heard from the parking lot,” Jeanne Skelly advised in 1980. “Look for the bird high atop the trees in this area.” (LG, May 1980)During the first BBA project a breeding Northern Parula was found three consecutive years at Letchworth SP on the west side of the river, Fox notes. “It nested in a Silver Maple, a willow and an Elm.” (Fox, p. 81) This was the only block with confirmed breeding. Evidence of probable breeding was found in an adjoining block and also at Naples.During the second project, however, evidence of breeding was found in only a single block – again in Letchworth – and this time probable rather than confirmed breeding.

Other summer records exist away from likely breeding locations. For example, one on 19 June 1997 (Clarridge) was at West Bloomfield (GOS, September 1997), another on 10 July 2001 (R. Robinson) was at Greece (GNR) and four years later another was banded on 11 July (McKinney) at Manitou. (LG, September 2005)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 9 August (1983) to 19 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 2 to 11 September. In most years had departed by 12 October, with a late departure date of 25 November. Subsequently, one 21-30 November 1996 (Dower, K. Fox et al) at Mount Morris (LG, December 1996) set a new record late date. Of 32 tallied in Badgerow Park during a mid-August to mid-October census of nonresident migrating warblers from 1995-1998, fifteen were seen in 1996. (KB 49:10, personal notes)

Magnolia Warbler

Setophaga magnoliaformerly Dendroica magnolia
“We’re, we’re , we’re WHEAT.”The song was almost whispered amid the emerging May foliage of Badgerow Park. Hardly the advertisement one would expect from such a gaudily plumaged creature, this birder thought to himself. He focused on the stunning combination of yellows, blacks, and grays of the Magnolia Warbler, which was easy to follow as it foraged through the lower branches of trees and the tops of shrubs.Even in the fall, the birder knew, this species would be easy to find in the park. No, it would not be nearly so colorful. It would not be singing. But its sheer numbers, and its habit of foraging at eye level through the dense foliage, would make it hard to miss. “Throughout the migration season the Magnolia warbler is common throughout our orchards and shade trees, as well as the woodlands,” Eaton (1914) observed. “It flutters about considerably while pursuing winged insects, displaying its brilliant black, yellow and white coloration, spreading the tail and showing the broad basal band of white which sometimes will distinguish it at a long distance through the grove.” (Eaton II: 409-410)
Background
This colorful woodland warbler likes dense young second-growth spruce and hemlock on its breeding grounds across central and southern Canada, and northeastern United States. This habitat is increasing as forests are cleared, then begin to regenerate. On its Central American wintering grounds it tolerates a wide range of habitats. Not surprisingly, this species’ numbers remain stable or are increasing, and it is not considered endangered. (BNA 136: 1-3)       Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this to be a common transient in Monroe and Livingston counties, and fairly common in Wayne. It was also an occasional summer resident in Monroe and Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, considered this strictly a migrant, with average spring counts of one to four birds on dates ranging from 3 May to 8 June. A maximum count of 75 had been reported in May 1917. This may be a reference to 24 May 1917 at the Tryon Park sewage disposal plant when many warblers perished during a cold snap. (WBR 9 May 1960) One to two birds was the average count in fall, with a maximum of four, on dates ranging from 11 August to 27 October. Leo Tanghe, in 1953, considered it a rare breeder in the Rochester area, citing the Canadice area as a nesting location. (GOS, May-August 1953)When he analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this was the sixth most frequently encountered warbler overall, reported 216 times, but the second most common in fall (82 sightings). (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B) This can be an abundant spring and fall migrant. And next to Yellow-rumped, perhaps the most common migrating warbler in fall.      Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring and fall transient and an occasional, rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular) fairly common spring and fall transient and a (presumably regular) uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 1 to 19 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 5 to 11 May. Subsequently, one on 24 April 1994 (Liguori) at Braddock Bay set a new record early date. (GOS, June 1994) Also early: one on 25 April 1990 (F. Dobson) at Island Cottage (GOS, June 1990) and one on 26 April 1953 (Barry, Listman) at Sodus. (GOS, May/August 1953) In most years had departed by 2 June, with a late departure date of 11 June. However, one on 15 June 1975 (Listman) at Braddock Bay was reported as the “last spring date.” (GNR)When 1,035 birds were banded at Manitou during a record-breaking two days on 18 and 19 May 1989, ninety-three were Magnolia Warblers. (LG, June 1989) This was the warbler most often found in the nets at the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory spring banding during 1999-2006, with a total of 2,270 banded, trailing only Ruby-crowned Kinglet overall.Migrants can still be found into early June. Twelve were at Braddock Bay (Listman et al) on 1 June 1968. (GOS, July/September 1968) One on 19 June 1972 (Carlson, Borek) at Island Cottage may have been a late migrant or simply a “floater” looking for a mate. GOS, July/September 1972)
Spring maxima:      60 on 15 May 1974 (Lloyd, Sunderlin) lakeshore. (GNR)    252 banded on 17 May 1995 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1995)      90 banded on 20 May 2004 (BBBO) at Manitou. (LG, July/August 2004)    132 banded on 22 May 2001 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR)    123 banded on 24 May 1993 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1993)      60 banded on 29 May 1997 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997)
Summer/breeding status: The great New York strongholds of this striking, colorful warbler are among the spruce and hemlock clearings of the Adirondacks and Catskills, but the abandonment of farmland and the state-sponsored planting of conifers during the 1930s have opened up additional breeding habitat in other parts of the state. (Andrle, p. 372) Indeed, the Breeding Bird Atlas projects suggest this species is increasing in the higher elevations in the southern part of our region.

Though found it in only a few scattered blocks along the Lake Plain, Bergen Swamp, appears to be a consistent nesting location. At Letchworth SP it is typically found in evergreen plantations or ravines, especially where there might be some deciduous invasion into those plantations, park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes.
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 15 August to 19 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 25 August to 4 September. Subsequently, two on 14 August 1991 (Marcotte) at Greece were earlier “firsts” of fall. (GOS, October 1991)In most years had departed by 14 October, with a late departure date of 1 November. However, one on 2 November 1979 (F. Dobson) at Gates was later. (GOS, January 1980)As in spring, this was the warbler most often found in the nets at the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory fall banding during 1999-2006, with a total of 1,660 banded, trailing only five other songbird species overall. It also was the most common species encountered during a mid-August to mid-October census of nonresident, migrating warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-1998, accounting for 692 of 2,704 birds observed. (KB 49: 10)
Fall maxima: 25+ on 29 August 1974 (Claffey) at Brighton. (GNR) 100 banded on 2 September 2001 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR) 21 on 10 September 1998 (Marcotte) at Badgerow Park. (Marcotte diary entry)

Bay-breasted Warbler

Setophaga castaneaformerly Dendroica castanea
Bob Spahn lives in a nicely wooded subdivision just off Route 104 in Webster. The kind of place where it is definitely worth taking a moment to listen closely and look around before getting in your car to go to work. On 23 May 1984, Spahn’s yard was full of migrating warblers. In a half hour he counted more than 200 of them. All Bay-breasteds. “Over the years there are very few times when birds really inundated the yard,” he added. “This was one them.”  This is a species most Rochester birders look for in mid-May when good numbers of these migrants move through our area. They are tougher in fall, when they can easily be confused with similar looking pine and blackpolls, and when the foliage is a hindrance.Unless, of course, one chooses to linger into the last week of November when the leaves have dropped, which is exactly what one did in 1977, “skulking about in the Pinetum area of Durand Eastman Park.”“Although this ambitious little bird established the second latest record for New York State, I can still remember the last time this tiny warbler was observed,” Chip Perrigo related. “A crowd of RBAers watched in disappointment as the terrified little Bay-breast frantically dodged through the pine trees with a voracious Northern Shrike in hot pursuit. So ended our hopes of a new state record late date only three days away.” (LG, February 1978)
Background
Spraying for spruce budworm during the 1970s and 1980s reduced this species’ numbers on its breeding grounds, which are found in dense, boreal spruce-fir forests across central and eastern Canada. Like closely-related Blackpoll Warbler, this species forages at midtree level in the inner part of trees. But there is little overlap in breeding territories between the two species. Bay-breasted Warbler breeds at lower elevations, with nests higher above the ground; Blackpoll breeds at higher elevations, with nests lower in trees. Significant decreases suggested by BBS data since 1980. This species is vulnerable on several counts: Its numbers are highly dependent on spruce budworm outbreaks and probably suffers when outbreaks are controlled and when budworm resistant strains of trees are planted. Shorter tree-cutting cycles will reduce the mature forest it prefers. Moreover, its prime wintering habitat is restricted to a fairly small area in Panama and northern South America, and is a prime area for developers. (BNA 206: 1, 5, 13)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this a fairly common transient in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties, but at times abundant in Monroe. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average spring counts of one to five birds, on dates ranging from 6 May to 7 June. Fifty were at the Tryon Park disposal plant on 26 May 1924 (Edson), “feeding on sludge flies on a cold day in migration.” In fall, average counts were one to three birds, with a maximum of 40, on dates ranging from 3 August to 6 October. However, Horsey and Edson indicated this is “often our most common warbler during the fall migration.” (“Thrushes and Warblers Begin Long Trip to Winter Homes,” D&C, 15 September 1931)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 146 times – 12th in frequency of overall occurrence among 35 warbler species. However, it was the fifth most frequently encountered in fall, with average counts anywhere from one to 20 birds. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common spring and fall transient and a casual, very rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring transient and a (presumably irregular) uncommon fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 3 to 27 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 9 to 14 May. Subsequently, one on 28 April 2001 (R. Spahn) at Durand-Eastman Park was considered record early. (GNR)In most years had departed by 3 June, with a late departure date of 24 June.  This can be one of our more common spring warblers when peak flights occur in mid-May. When 1,035 birds were banded at Manitou during a record-breaking two days on 18 and 19 May 1989, seventy-seven were Bay-breasted Warblers. (LG, June 1989) However, only 53 were taken from the nets from 1999 to 2004.     Spring maxima:      65 on 17 May 1983 (Griffith) at Greece. (GNR)      24 banded on 17 May 1995 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1995)     150 on 22 May 1977 (J. Skelly, et al) at Braddock Bay. (LG, June 1977)    200 on 23 May 1984 (R. Spahn) in a half hour at Webster. (GOS, July/August 1984)      41 on 25 May 1997 (A. Watson) at Cobbs Hill. (GOS, July/August 1997)      50 on 26 May 1924 (Edson) Tryon Park disposal plant “feeding on sludge flies on a cold day in migration.” (Horsey)
Summer: Not known to breed in our region, so three July records since 1980 – one on 30 July 1981 (N. Henderson) at Braddock Bay (GNR); one singing 21-24 July 1987 in Irondequoit (KB37: 223), and one on 26 July 1993 (Ewald) at Braddock Bay (GOS, September 1993) – were considered early fall arrivals. One on 3 August 1985 (R. and S. Spahn) at Webster Park (GOS, October 1985) and four along the west lakeshore 5 August 1979 (Lloyd et al) were quite early. (GOS, October 1979)  Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 18 July to 18 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 13 August to 1 September. In most years had departed by 5 October, with a late departure date of 15 October (1978). One on 17 November 1990 (Griffith) at Durand Eastman Park was very late (GOS, January 1991); the one that fell victim to the Northern Shrike was at the park 22-27 November 1977. (LG, January 1978)    Some fall birds with muted flank pattern can be a challenge because they closely resemble Blackpoll and Pine warblers. Only 49 were taken from the nets at Manitou during fall banding by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory from 1999 to 2004. Nonetheless, this was the 8th most common species encountered during a mid-August through mid October census of nonresident migrating warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-1998, accounting for 126 of the 2,704 total birds. (KB 49: 10)
Fall maxima:    150 on 15 August 1975 (S. Taylor) along the west lakeshore. (LG, September 1975)      75+ on 29 August 1974 (Claffey) at Brighton. (GNR)     100 on 2 September 1962 (Miller) at Durand-Eastman Park (KB13: 34), prompting Howard Miller to observe that “often around Sept. 1 this species is by far the prevalent warbler.”

Blackburnian Warbler

Setophaga fusca formerly Dendroica fusca
“As we moved along the trails the most admired bird of the day had to be a brilliantly colored male Blackburnian Warbler facing the sun,” Paul and Jeff Spindler wrote after a field trip to Island Cottage Wood on 10 May 1986. “Its upper area of orange and black markings were breathtaking. We all delighted in its beauty.” (GOS, July 1986) Indeed, “it is my own opinion that a first good look through a pair of binoculars at a Blackburnian warbler has been the making of many a birdwatcher,” John Brown observed. (BA, 6 May 1965) Gordon Meade, one of the prominent figures of Rochester birding, “became hooked for life” on 20 May 1919 when, at age 13, he “peeked into some bushes at Cobbs Hill Park and saw a flaming red-gold bird – A Blackburnian warbler.” (“Doctor on Watch,” Upstate magazine, D&C, 26 March 1978)So one can only imagine what it must have been like on 26 May 1924 – a cold day at the height of the migration – at the Tryon Park sewage disposal plant. William L. G. Edson reported 150 Blackburnian Warblers feeding on sludge flies. (Horsey) It must have been quite a sight: breeding plumage males have incredibly vibrant orange on the throats, making this a “universal favorite of all bird students.” (B&M, p. 380)Fortunately, opportunities to observe this species in breeding plumage are not confined to the spring migration; this is a regular nester in higher elevation forests of the southern part of our region.
Background
This brilliantly colored migrant prefers to nest in hemlocks or other conifers across much of southern Canada into the Northeast U.S., and southeast along the Appalachian Mountains. The multitude of Dendroica warblers separate ecologically by foraging areas: Blackburnian exploits a tree-top niche. Females have a reputation for sitting tightly on their eggs, even in presence of humans. Unlike many other Neotropical migrants, this species seems to be holding its own. (BNA 102: 1, 10)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this to be a common transient in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties. He also listed it as a local summer resident in Monroe. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average spring counts of one to six birds, on dates ranging from 3 May to 2 June. Average fall counts were one to two birds, with a maximum of 20, on dates ranging from 14 August to 3 October.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this was the ninth most frequently encountered warbler overall (163 reports) and in spring (115 reports) when average tallies of thee to five were reported. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)However, it does not appear on his list of breeding birds in the Rochester area in 1953. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring and fall transient and an occasional, rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient and a regular uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 26 April to 13 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 8 May. However, one on 22 April 1976 (Claffey, Steinhauser) at Durand Eastman Park was even earlier. (LG, May 1976)In most years had departed by 1 June, with a late departure date of 8 June. When 1,035 birds were banded at Manitou during a record-breaking two days on 18 and 19 May 1989, thirty-four were Blackburnian Warblers. (LG, June 1989)
Spring maxima: 59 in four hours on 13 May 1978 (Lloyd, Sunderlin) through a yard near Irondequoit Bay. (KB 28:172) 200 on 24 May 1917 (Edson) at Tryon Park sewage disposal plant when many warblers perished during a cold snap. (Bull, p. 492; WBR, 9 May 1960) 150 on 26 May 1924 (Edson) at Tryon Park sewage disposal plant. (Horsey) 30 on 29 May 1997 (C. Spahn) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997) 25 banded on 24 May 1993 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1993)
Summer/breeding status: In the mid 1960s, this was “perhaps the most abundant breeding warbler in hemlocks and other conifers in Letchworth State Park in Wyoming County.” (Bull, p. 492) Fifteen were tallied there (Maley, Ladwig) on 23 June 1964. (GOS, September 1964)Though no longer even in the top five among breeding warblers in the park (Fox, p. 83), it is “very prevalent” in taller evergreen plantations of the park, notes Letchworth naturalist Douglas Bassett, especially older plantations such as the arboretum, near the south end of the park, where trees were planted in the early 1900s. It can also sometimes be found in natural stands of pine clumps where they are scattered in ravines. The annual Letchworth field trip often finds this bird at Inspiration Point.It probably also breeds nearby at Rattlesnake Hill WMA (Fox, p. 83).However, this is “still another warbler with ‘northern’ affinities that is rare to absent over much of the lake plain in western New York,” Bull noted. (Bull, p. 492) That pattern was pretty much confirmed during the BBA projects, with breeding confirmed primarily in higher elevations to the south, primarily in southern Livingston and Ontario counties. By the second project, there was virtually no evidence of breeding in the lake plain, except at Bergen Swamp, but good indications this species is increasing its breeding presence to the south.

Individuals on 20 July 1960 (McNett) at Webster (GOS, March-July 1960), on 16 July 1965 (McNett, Sunderlin) at Powder Mill Park (GOS, September 1965) and on 20 July 1976 (Wilton et al) along the lakeshore (GNR) were apparently wandering far from traditional nesting areas.
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 14 August to 9 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 23 August to 3 September. Subsequently, one on 5 August 1996 (Marcotte) at Badgerow Park in Greece was an earlier “first” of fall. (GOS, October 1996) In most years had departed by 30 September, with a late departure date of 13 October. This was the 9th most common species encountered during a mid-August to mid-October census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995 to 1998, accounting for 120 of 2,704 total birds. (KB 49: 10)
Fall maxima: 25+ on 29 August 1974 (Claffey) at Brighton. (GNR)
Winter: One was seen on the Rochester CBC in 1946. (O’Hara, p. 35)

Yellow Warbler

Setophaga petechiaformerly Dendroica petechia
John Brown didn’t “entertain too much hope for the housekeeping success” of a pair of Yellow Warblers that chose to nest in a raspberry patch in his yard in 1968. The “fine, strongly-woven, compact, well-lined nest” was only three feet off the ground, and right next to a garden path in a bush that was regularly brushed by dogs and people. The warblers were undeterred. Indeed, the female initially “sneaked off the nest whenever anyone approached within eight or ten feet, but as days went by she became more trusting and sometimes would let someone pass on the path without moving.” The Browns diligently chased off grackles, Blue Jays and squirrels from the general area of the nest. But their biggest contribution was removing a cowbird egg. They were rewarded for their efforts when the warblers successfully fledged two young. (BA, 27 June 1968) This is our most abundant breeding warbler in parks and open areas – indeed one of our most abundant songbirds of any species – singing a distinctive sweet-sweet-sweeter-than-sweet. And yet, many nonbirders, shown a photograph of this species, confess to having never seen one.
Background
“A splash of yellow in a patch of willow,” is how this species is described by The Birds of North America profiles. This abundant songster prefers wet deciduous thickets, especially those dominated by willows, breeding from Alaska, across most of Canada, most of the northern two-thirds of continental U.S., and even in parts of the desert southwest, south through much of Mexico. This makes it the most widely distributed of all the Dendroica warblers. It is also one of the most complex, with as many as 43 subspecies organized into three groups that at one time were treated as three separate species: Yellow, Golden and Mangrove. A frequent host for Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism, this species often reacts by building a new nest over the parasitized clutch, resulting in multi-tiered nests. Fall migration is among earliest of North American wood warblers, and is well under way by mid to late July; this species uses a variety of habitats on its wintering grounds. Generally stable or increasing, though local declines have occurred in the west where channelization of streams or overgrazing destroys riparian habitat. (BNA 454:1, 4-5, 7, 9, 20)
Local history
Even in Eaton’s time, this was a common species here. In 1910 he listed it as an abundant summer resident in Monroe County, and common in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of four to 10 birds, with a maximum count of 50-100, on dates ranging from 26 April to 30 October. When Leo Tanghe analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from January 1951 through December 1954, this species was the most frequently encountered warbler in several respects, reported 410 times overall, 234 times in spring, and 99 times from late June through early August. Average counts of 20-30 were reported in May. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)In 1953, Tanghe considered this an abundant breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically listing Island Cottage and Mendon Ponds as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953) It would be hard to argue with that assessment today. This is probably the most common breeding warbler on the lakeplain, with large numbers of migrants occasionally recorded.         Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, very common summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence      Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 23 April (1968) to 15 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 30 April to 4 May. However, one 17 April 1976 (Dutcher) at Durand-Eastman Park was earlier (LG, May 1976); so was one on 21 April that year (Thomen, Ehlerstremmel) at Allens Creek. (GNR) Subsequently, one on 19 April 1994 (Liguori) at Braddock Bay was reported record early. (GOS, June 1994) Note: All of these were apparently overlooked when another on 22 April 2001 was reported record early at Island Cottage! (GNR; LG, June 2001)Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 6th with 1,537 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima:        67 (banded) on 10 May 1996 (Brooks, G. Jones) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1996)        61 (banded) on 12 May 1997 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997)           200+ on 17 May 1997 (mob) at several locations. (GOS, July/August 1997)      100+ max. on 20 May 1984 (D. Rice, R. Spahn) several locations. (GOS, July/August 1984)      300+ on 23 May 1998 (R. Spahn, Whittum) at several locations. (GOS, July/August 1998)      200+ on 25 May 1996 (mob) at several locations. (GOS, July/August 1996)      100 on 26 May 1924 (Edson) Tryon Park disposal plant “feeding on sludge flies on a cold day in migration.” (Horsey)
Breeding status: “The most unusual nest seen in some time was that of a Yellow warbler, which was built in a rose bush with a stem of a rose coming up through the side wall of the nest,” Horsey and Edson reported in 1931. (“Warbler Builds ‘Hothouse’ Nest and ‘Hatches’ a Rose,” D&C, 22 June 1931) ”The heat from the brooding bird caused this bloom to open ahead of the other buds, and in opening the blossom roofed over the nest. Certainly no more beautiful, fragrant, and effective roof could be asked for.”This warbler likes shrubby areas with scattered trees near streams. Atlasers had no problem finding evidence of breeding by this species in virtually every block assigned to our region during both BBA projects.

There is some concern that this species is declining in numbers in and around urban areas as habitat is lost to development, and may decline further as abandoned farmland, now in successional stages of plant growth, eventually reverts to forest. (Andrle, p. 368)Many start south by the end of July.
Summer maxima: 56 (banded) on 23 July 2007 (R. and C. McKinney) at Manitou. (LG, September 2007) 1,000 on 28 July 1979 (N. Henderson) along the west lakeshore, including 300 in half an hour at Braddock Bay. (GOS, September 1979) 65 (banded) on 28 July 1995 (McKinney) at Manitou. (GOS, September 1995) 104 (banded) on 30 July 1998 (McKinney) at Manitou. (GOS, September 1998) Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 22 August to 27 November, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 5 to 22 September. The late bird, “observed for the better part of half an hour by six observers,” was seen on 27 November 1973 (Magee, Stear) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, January 1974)Generally these are among the first warblers to head south, so they can become scarce even before other migrating fall warblers reach their peak here.
Misc.
Three of these warblers – two males and a female – put on quite a display on 20 May 1989, flycatching for insects along with a small empidonax flycatcher in a Greece neighborhood. “The Yellow Warblers are flying almost straight up in the air, as high as 30 feet or so, to grab small insects, then falling back towards the earth. At times, just before they fall back, they seem to hang suspended a split second, feet dangling back from them. The affect is almost comical, for they are working the area above (a neighbor’s) backyard swimming pool, which is hidden from view by a large hedge. So at times it looks like the birds are being thrown into the air from behind the hedge. They use the fence, the roof of her house, the telephone line, even her TV antenna atop the roof as a perch.“The flycatcher, by contrast, uses a more direct line to snag his bugs, darting away quickly from his fence perch, often returning in a matter of seconds. The expenditure of effort seems much more economical than the extravagant acrobatics of the yellow warblers, who at times seem to imitate a reverse roll by a stunt pilot.“Maybe that is why flycatchers are flycatchers, and yellow warblers spend most of their time working the branches of trees for their meals.” (Marcotte diary entry) Banded birds: One of the more remarkable records from the bird banding station at Kaiser-Manitou involved a pair of Yellow Warblers who “returned on almost the same date in May (often in the same net together) for nine years,” Elizabeth Brooks relates. (Marcotte, p. 62) One banded in May 1988 at Manitou was in at least its 10th year when it was retrapped there on 29 May 1996. (LG, March 1997) One banded at Kaiser-Manitou in May 1990 was re-trapped in May 1993 at Long Point Bird Observatory near Port Rowan, Ontario, Canada. Another, banded at Long Point in May 1991, was re-trapped at Kaiser-Manitou in June 1994. (GOS, February 1995) Yet another, banded on 10 May 1996 at Manitou, was found dead three days later in Kingston, Ontario, 88 miles to the northeast across Lake Ontario. “This is our first cross-lake recovery,” Elizabeth Brooks noted. (LG, March 1997)

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Setophaga pensylvanicaformerly Dendroica pensylvanica
On a warm May day, Betty Powell and her husband dropped by that mecca of spring birding, Island Cottage Woods. She wandered off to the east, through the tangle of low shrubs to a clearing near Round Pond, then stopped to look back at the warblers flitting through the bushes.“Suddenly, a breeding plumage male Chestnut-sided Warbler paused in full view on a red osier dogwood branch. At the same moment, a brilliant ray of sunshine broke through to illuminate the bird as if it were in a spotlight. Its feathers – the yellow crown, streaked back, wingbars, and rich chestnut markings on the sides – glowed as though lit from inside as well as from outside,” she later wrote. Powell stood “speechless with wonder watching this tiny bird” and felt that, “in this brief moment in time, I had been granted a special privilege to be a part of and to appreciate, the beauty of creation.” (LG, August 1994)
Background
Guy Bailey of Geneseo considered this the “Ideal Warbler” to photograph because it frequently nests only one or two feet off the ground in the crotches of low bushes where there is little disturbance from the wind. “The birds are not camera shy and . . . will sit perfectly still if necessity demands a long exposure.” (Bailey, 1:354)This is one of the few Neotropical migrants that has benefited “dramatically” from human activities on the North American continent, occupying scrubby second-growth areas and forest edges, such as those that were created with the clearing of primeval forests. It continues to thrive in the early successional habitats that occur after farms are abandoned or forests are clearcut, ranging from the Appalachians northward into the Great Lakes, northeastern states and southern Canada. This warbler specializes in foraging on the underside of leaves for insects. “Its populations have greatly expanded since the early 1800s,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series, and “despite some declines since the 1960s (especially where habitat is cleared for agriculture or suburbs), this species appears to maintain healthy populations, and management does not seem warranted.” (BNA 190: 1, 5) Local history
This is a warbler that prefers open areas – along the edges of woods, in bushy pastures, and along neglected roadsides, “usually in wilder and more deserted situations than those frequented by the Yellow Warbler,” Eaton (1914) observed. He listed this as a common transient in Monroe and Wayne counties, fairly common in Livingston, and an uncommon summer resident in Monroe. (Eaton II: 414, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average spring counts of one to four birds, on dates ranging from 4 May to 14 June. A maximum count of 400 was reported in May 1917. This may be a reference to 24 May 1917 at the Tryon Park sewage disposal plant when many warblers perished during a cold snap. (Bull, p. 484; WBR 9 May 1960) In fall, one to two birds was the average count, with a maximum of six, on dates ranging from 12 August to 1 October.“Reported as breeding in 1919,” he noted. “While it is possible every year to find a nest or two of this attractive songster within a few miles of Rochester,” added Horsey and Edson in 1931, “its full voiced warble has been heard in more localities than usual.” (“Warbler Builds ‘Hothouse’ Nest and ‘Hatches’ a Rose,” D&C, 22 June 1931) Tanghe, in his 1953 list of nesting birds in the Rochester area, considered this an uncommon breeder, and mentioned Mendon Ponds and Powder Mill parks as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)When Tanghe analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this was the eighth most frequently encountered warbler, reported 177 times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. Highest average counts, 10-20 birds, were reported in the fall; there were 10 sightings late June through early August. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common spring transient; a regular, uncommon summer resident and a regular, fairly common fall transient.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 20 April (1980) to 14 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 6 to 10 May. In most years had departed by 31 May, with a late departure date of 7 June.One “trapped in a skylight caused considerable excitement in the analysis department of the Lincoln-Rochester Trust Co. offices over McFarlin’s” in May 1966. (BA, 19 May 1966) Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 19th with 469 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: Max. 30 in May 1951, location not given. (GOS, April/June 1951) 23 on 13 May 1961 (Rosche) Letchworth SP. (KB 11:101) 36 on 20 May 1984 (D. Bassett, P. Conklin) Letchworth SP. (GOS, July/August 1984) 29 banded on 22 May 2001 (BBBO) Manitou. (GNR) 30 on 25, 31 May 1997 (A. Watson, K. Fox, R. Spahn) at Cobbs Hill and also at other locations. (GOS, July/August 1997) 50 on 26 May 1924 (Edson) at Tyron Park disposal plant “feeding on sludge flies on a cold day in migration.” (Horsey) 50+ on 28 May 1988 (R. and S. Spahn) at Letchworth SP and the west lakeshore. (GOS, July 1988) Summer/breeding status: In 1937 Edson reported it nesting in the vicinity of the Float Bridge “where a nest with two warbler eggs and one cowbird egg was discovered.” (WBR, 14 June 1937) “These nests are usually in raspberry or blackberry tangles at the edge of woods.” It also likes “bushy fields or the sides of unfrequented roads where brambles make the search for the nest anything but a pleasure.” (“Warbler Builds ‘Hothouse’ Nest and ‘Hatches’ a Rose,” D&C, 22 June 1931)Nesting was confirmed at Powder Mills Park in 1950. (GOS, June/August 1950) Though reasonably well represented in blocks along the lake plain, the heaviest concentration of confirmed breeding during the BBA projects was in the southern half of the region, with much of the increase during the second project coming in northern Livingston and in northern Wyoming into southern Genesee counties.

At least fifteen were on the east side of Letchworth SP (Fox) on 14 June 1997. (Fox, p. 82) Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 13 August to 4 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 18 to 25 August. In most years had departed by 26 September, with a late departure date of 14 October (1980). However, one on 26 October 1979 (N. Henderson) at Island Cottage was later. (GOS, October 1979) This was the seventh most common species encountered during a mid-August/mid October census of nonresident warblers at Badgerow Park from 1995 to 1998, accounting for 142 of 2,704 total warblers observed. (KB 49: 10)

Blackpoll Warbler

Setophaga striataformerly Dendroica striata
“The black-poll warbler is possibly the most difficult bird to identify when it is in its fall plumage,” Edson noted in 1930, “as it much resembles several other olive greenish warblers to be seen during the fall migration, particularly the immature bay-breasted warbler.”In other words, this sometimes thorny problem of “baypoll” identification has been bugging birders for quite some time! Edson’s solution seemed simple enough: “As a rule, however, the bay-breasted warbler in this plumage has a slight tinge of buff on the flanks and under tail coverts, and this serves as a reliable field mark in practically every case to separate the two.” Once that is accomplished, he added, the blackpoll is “sufficiently different from the others that one will have but little trouble if he obtains a sufficiently good look at the bird.” (“Long Distance Traveler Goes Through City on Way South,” D&C, 20 October 1930) Well, unfortunately, a “sufficiently good look” is perhaps the biggest challenge of fall warbler watching, when the birds are hidden in the dense late summer/early fall foliage of trees and the grape vines that drape the edges of woodlots. One birder, struggling to identify this species in late September 1993 at Badgerow Park, was lucky enough to find one in a sunny area. But even that posed a problem. The bottom of the bird was shaded, and the legs appeared dark. Only at an angle that offered more neutral lighting could he see that the legs were actually flesh-colored – one of several markings that added up to Blackpoll. This species is much easier to identify in spring when it is often the last warbler to migrate through our area. The plumage is unmistakable. And the distinctive zit-zit-zit-zit-zit-zit song betrays its presence amid the fresh foliage into early June.
Background
This can be one of the commonest warblers on its breeding grounds, which range across the northern coniferous forests of Alaska and Canada. They undertake the longest migration of any warbler, with some individuals traveling from Alaska to Brazil. Some Blackpoll Warblers in fall nearly double their weight in order to fly nonstop up to 88 hours from northeast U.S., over the Atlantic to Puerto Rico or northern South America. Spring migration is primarily over the Caribbean to mainland U.S. This species often lingers south of its breeding range into midsummer. Though often described as a spruce budworm specialist, along with Tennessee and Bay-breasted, available data shows no connection between Blackpoll numbers and budworm outbreaks. Recent data indicating declines are from very small areas. Probably not a threatened species because of the remoteness of its breeding and wintering grounds. (BNA 431: 1-3, 5, 16-17)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a common transient in Monroe and Livingston counties, fairly common in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds, spring and fall, with a spring maximum of 20 and a fall maximum of 10. Spring dates ranged from 8 May to 14 June, fall dates from 29 August to 16 October.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 136 times, making it the 15th most frequently encountered of 35 warbler species, with sightings almost equally divided between spring and fall. In fact, despite the identification problems alluded to above, it was the fourth most common warbler species reported in fall, with average counts from 2 to 30 birds. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)   Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common spring transient; a regular, fairly common fall transient and an occasional, very rare summer visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring transient and a (presumably irregular) uncommon to rare fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 1 May (1981) to 27 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 13 to 18 May. In most years had departed by 6 June, with a late departure date of 15 June (1977). One on 16 June 1975 (Listman) at Carlton was a later “last spring date” (GNR) and was tied by one on the same date in 1991 (R. Spahn) at Leroy. (GOS, September 1991)Relatively late passage of this migrant is reflected in maxima below. Scarce in some years recently. (KB 51:696, 52:241)     Spring maxima:    15 on 20 May 1962 (J. and T. McNett) Island Cottage. (KB 12:92)    Max. 20 during 23-31 May 1948 (Chapin) Highland Park. (GOS, May/July 1948)    37 banded on 24 May 2007 (BBBO) at Manitou. (LG, July/August 2007)    15+ on 25 May 1996 (mob) several locations. (GOS, July/August 1996)    30 on 1 June 1968 (Listman et al) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, July/September 1968)    20 on 1 June 1973 (M. Carlson, Uebelacker) at Greece. (KB 23: 196)    21 on 2 June 1999 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR)
Summer: Stragglers can tarry well into June. For example, Blackpolls were reported 17 and 25 June 1961 (Listman) at Manitou (KB11: 158) and another by Listman 22 June 1965. (KB15: 232) One at Webster on 24 June 2003 (Boettcher, Platt) was also “extremely late.” (KB 53:347, GNR) Another was at Irondequoit (D. Tetlow) on 30 June 2006. (LG, September 2006) At least four July records, apparently of wandering, nonbreeding birds. One on 9 July 1958 (McNetts) was at Lake Road, Webster. (GNR) Listman had one on 19 July 1968 at Manitou. (GOS, October 1968) One was singing on 3 July 1999 (Griffith) at Greece. (LG September 1999) Another on 13 July 2002 (D. Strong, Hartenstein) was at Hemlock Lake. (KB52: 351)    Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 18 August (1978) to 17 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 28 August to 11 September. However, one on 1 August 1955 (Kemnitzers) from Five Mile Line Road was an earlier “first report of autumn migration.” (GOS, April/December 1955) One on 3 August 1999 (Ewald) at Braddock Bay was another early “first of fall.” (GNR)  In most years had departed by 11 October, with a late departure date of 18 October (1952). However, there are at least two later records. Two on 23 October 1954 (Listman) were at Durand Eastman (GNR) and one on 20 October 1975 (Listman) at Point Breeze. (LG, November 1975) Subsequently, one banded on 20 October 1999 (McKinney) at Manitou was considered record late. (GNR) All of these were apparently overlooked or discarded when the Little Gull reported one banded on 18 October 2006 at Manitou as tying the record late date. (LG, December 2006)At times one of the more common fall warblers encountered in our region. It was the 10th most common species encountered during a mid-August to mid-October census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-98, accounting for 85 of 2,704 total birds. (KB 49:10)Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 15th with 672 birds taken from the nets. 250 of them were banded in 1999 alone.     Fall maxima:     50 on 24 August 1975 (Perrigo) at Braddock Bay. (LG, September 1975)    55 banded on 20 September 1999 (BBBO) at Manitou (among 235 for the entire month). (KB 50:54)    25 on 26 September 1953 (Van Beurden, McKinney) lakeshore. (GOS, September/October 1953)    13 on 11 October 1970 (Sunderlin) at Webster. (GNR)

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Setophaga caerulescensformerly Dendroica caerulescens
The birding was good, as it often is, at Island Cottage Wood that May morning. But as this birder drove home, his elation was tinged with a bit of sadness. Of all the warblers he had seen, there had not been a single Black-throated Blue, one of his favorites of the whole colorful tribe. He pulled into his driveway on Dewey Avenue in Greece, walked up his sidewalk, and there it was: A male Black-throated Blue foraging through the profuse blooms of the crabapple in his front yard. Moments later, he watched in disbelief as the natty little bird flew down and landed on his front porch, while he stood inside his screen door only three or four feet away. It was simply too eerie of a coincidence. He never forgot it.
Background
So different are males and females in appearance that they were considered separate species by early naturalists. This warbler breeds in large tracts of relatively undisturbed forests, often in hilly or mountainous terrain, in the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada, and southward in a narrow band along the higher elevations of the Appalachians into northern Georgia. It prefers forests with a relatively thick undergrowth of dense shrubs, since nests are usually placed at low heights in shrubs or saplings and most foraging is at shrub and lower canopy level. Winters primarily in the forests of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and the Bahamas. This species undoubtedly suffered when European settlers cleared the eastern forests. However, it has recently rebounded as abandoned farmland in the heart of its range has reverted to forest. Loss of forest on its wintering grounds could reverse these gains. Wintering birds in Jamaica have been found in a wide range of habitats, including coffee plantations, orchards and gardens, but it is not clear if these are suitable for survival of overwintering birds. (BNA 87:1-2, 4-5, 11, 17)
Local history
Birders who admire the male’s distinctive appearance and listen eagerly for this species’ soft “dit” call, no doubt long for a return of the days when Eaton (1910) considered this an abundant migrant in Monroe County, and common in Livingston and Wayne. He listed it as a local summer resident in Monroe and Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)Indeed, R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, reports maximum counts of 100 in May 1917, and 62 on 26 May 1924. Generally, though, one to five birds was the average count per day in spring, on dates ranging from 23 April to 7 June, and one to two birds in fall, on dates ranging from 25 August to 16 October.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species ranked 11th of 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence, with 151 sightings within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. Average tallies were one to three birds. (KB: 5: 69: 6A-6B) Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring and fall transient and an occasional, rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient and a regular rare summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 23 April to 12 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 1 to 7 May. In most years had departed by 30 May, with a late departure date of 9 June.Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 13th with 734 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 50 on 10 May 1995 (Clarridge) several locations. (GOS, July/August 1995) 45 banded on 12 May 1997 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997) 35 on 14 May 1972 (B. and G. Perrigo) along the lakeshore. (GNR) 100 on 24 May 1917 were stranded at the Tryon Park sewage disposal plant when many warblers perished during a cold snap. (Bull, p. 484, WBR 9 May 1960) 50 on 25 May 1997 (Sherony) were at several spots. (GOS, July/August 1997)
Summer/breeding status: “On the colder hillsides and gulleys of central and western New York it is rather scarce as a breeding species,” Eaton (1914) wrote. (Eaton II: 404)Tanghe, in his 1953 list of birds breeding in the Rochester area, listed this as only a probable breeder in the Wayland area. (GOS, May/August 1953) It was well reported during the summer of 1974 at Honeoye Lake. (KB 24:191)However, the first BBA turned up evidence of breeding in only 18 blocks in our region, and the second in only 15.

During the first project, nearly half the blocks with evidence of breeding were in Monroe and Wayne counties, including confirmed breeding at WHERE in Monroe County. However, during the second project, there was no evidence of breeding in either of those counties. Instead, it appears to be found primarily in higher elevation forests to the south. “The cooler climes, higher elevation and larger forest tracts in the southern part of (Livingston County) seems to attract this bird as a breeder,” Kurt Fox has noted. (Fox, p. 82) It is a rare but regular breeder at Letchworth SP, for example, where breeding was confirmed during both BBA projects. It is usually found there on slopes near springs or other sources of water, preferring deciduous to evergreen woodlands, with plenty of brushy understory, park naturalist Douglas Basset notes. It is more common there now than in the past, but is absent in areas of the park where heavy browsing by deer has removed the understory this species prefers.It was confirmed nesting at Harriet Hollister Spencer SRA (KB 32:273) during the first BBA.There is concern that loss of understory due to excessive browsing by deer is reducing suitable habitat, but there are also suggestions that logging may create habitat. (KB 45:290)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 19 August (1979) to 9 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 28 August to 4 September. Subsequently, one on 16 August 1993 (O’Hara) at Manitou was an earlier “first of fall.” (GOS, October 1993) Another on the same date in 1999 (Ewald) was at Manitou. (GNR)In most years had departed by 9 October, with a late departure date of 21 October. One banded on 28 October 1991 (McKinney) at Penfield was later. (GOS, December 1991) Subsequently, one that tarried at Hamlin Beach from 8 November to 2 December 2006 (Davids, D. Tetlow) was record late. (LG, January, February 2007) This was the fifth most common species encountered during a fall census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995-98, accounting for 183 of 2,704 total birds observed. (KB 49: 10) It was also one of the more common species banded during fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory. From 1999-2006, it ranked 17th of the 30 most frequently banded species with 601 taken from the nets.56 were reported from various locations from 1-27 October 2005. (LG December 2005)
Misc.
The banders at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory at Manitou have encountered many strange-looking birds over the years, but the Black-throated Blue Warbler they took from a net in spring 2007 was surely one of the strangest. It was a bilateral gynandromorphic bird – showing male plumage on the left side, and mostly female plumage on the right, with a clearly defined dividing line right down the middle of the underparts. “The bilateral plumage differentiation in this warbler possible indicates that the bird had both an ovary and a testis,” noted an article in the organization’s summer 2007 newsletter. “Our warbler was banded, labeled as an ‘unknown’ sex, and released to continue on to the breeding grounds where attracting a mate was likely a challenge.”

Palm Warbler

Setophaga palmarumformerly Dendroica palmarum
Walt Listman reported a memorable encounter with these tail-wagging migrants in September 1964. While driving along Hogan Point Road, he noticed several sparrows and what looked like a Palm Warbler. “He stopped for a minute, and his imitation of small-bird alarm notes brought no less than seven Palm warblers flying to the car from the open field,” John Brown related. “One alighted on the hood and two flew into the car through open windows.” (BA, 24 September 1964)
Background
This misnamed bird is actually one of the northernmost breeding warblers in North America, nesting on the surface of bogs, often beneath a short conifer, in boreal forests of Canada and northern U.S. It is also the most terrestrial of the Dendroicas, feeding primarily on the ground or in short shrubs and trees, wagging its tail almost continuously. The two subspecies, Yellow and Western, use separate breeding grounds but overlap in winter. This species is less likely to suffer from habitat fragmentation on its breeding grounds than other warblers, and readily adapts to residential areas on its wintering grounds. (BNA 238: 1, 2, 13)
Local history
Eaton (1910) indicated this transient was fairly common in Monroe County, rare in Livingston, and uncommon in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds spring and fall, but with a maximum count of 50 in spring, versus only four in fall. Spring dates ranged from 16 April to 27 May; fall dates from 13 August to 18 October. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this migrant was reported 131 times – 17th in terms of frequency of occurrence of 35 warbler species. More than 80 percent of the sightings were in spring. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring transient and a regular, uncommon fall transient. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual very rare winter visitant, a (presumably regular) fairly common spring transient and a (presumably irregular uncommon) fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 15 April to 9 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 26 April to 3 May. Subsequently, one on 7 April 1988 at Mendon Ponds, seen by the staff there was record early. (GOS, June 1988) One 12 April 1995 (C. Cass) at Braddock Bay (GOS, June 1995) and on the same date in 2002 (D. Tetlow) at Braddock Bay (GNR) were also early. In most years had departed by 21 May, with a late departure date of 2 June (1967). Subsequently, a “western” banded on 4 June 1999 (M. Zettel) at Manitou was even later. (GNR)This is usually among the first warblers to arrive here in spring, when it can often be found at marsh edges and other open areas, pumping its tail. Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, Palm Warbler ranked 15th with 623 birds taken from the nets.           Spring maxima:     50 on 5 May 1963 (Genesee Ornithological Society trip) along the west lakeshore. (KB13: 161)     60 on 5 May 1986 (M. Carlson) west lakeshore. (LG, June 1986)     50 on 5 May 2003 (Grosshans, D. Henderson) at Durand-Eastman Park. (LG, September 2003)     67 banded on 10 May 2004 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GOS, July 2004)     41 banded on 14 May 2005 (BBBO) at Manitou. (LG, July/August 2005)     39 banded on 18 May 2000 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR)     30 on 20 May 1984 (D. Rice, R. Spahn) at Island Cottage Wood and Braddock Bay. (GOS, July/August 1984)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 9 August to 21 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 13 September. In most years had departed by 10 October, with a late departure date of 2 November.    However, a “yellow” palm warbler on 11 November 1975 (J. and W. Listman) at Point Breeze was even later. (LG, December 1975) The 2 November sighting was in 1952 (Tanghe, R. Dobson) in Durand-Eastman Park. (GNR)There was a “definite increase” in this species on 16 October 1954, the morning after remnants of Hurricane Hazel came through; “it is quite probable that these birds were blown north.” (KB4:104) Only eight were tallied during a mid-August/mid October census of nonresident warblers at Badgerow Park from 1995-1998. (KB 49: 10) Not all that common in fall at the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory banding station at Manitou in fall either, with only 37 taken from the nets during 1999-2006.
Fall maxima:    12 on 27 September 1974 (N. Henderson) at Braddock Bay. (GNR)
Winter: The “scenic hills, the deep gullies and the largely frozen shores of Honeoye, Canadice, Hemlock and Conesus lakes” on 26 December 1976 hardly seemed the time or place for a Palm Warbler. And yet that’s exactly what Walt Listman and his son Jim found while exploring Reservoir Road west of Conesus Lake during the Little Lakes CBC. Among the small birds active at a feeder “was one that showed a lot of yellow,” John Brown reported. “As the Listmans watched, it flew first into a bush, then onto the ground near the house, then onto a sunlit, recessed porch of the house where it seemed to be looking for insects, constantly wagging and flicking its tail.” (BA, 29 December 1976)Another 30 December 1979 (J. and W. Listman) was at Point Breeze (LG, January 1980) and one 10 January 1994 (D. and D. Traver) was near Lima. (GOS, March 1994)

Pine Warbler

Setophaga pinusformerly Dendroica pinus
For a truly baffling experience, visit the Inspiration Point area of Letchworth SP in June and simply listen. You will likely hear birds trilling in all directions. But what are they? Pine Warblers? Dark-eyed Juncos? Chipping Sparrows? Alas, all three breed in this part of the park, and even park naturalist Douglas Bassett has been stumped on several occasions, thinking he had identified a bird as say, a Pine Warbler, by its song, only to catch sight of it and discover it was a junco or chipping sparrow instead. His theory: “It seems where the breeding ranges of these similar sounding species overlap, they gravitate to similar sounds that make them more indistinguishable,” Bassett said. “There’s a plasticity in voices of birds that are similar.” Rochester area birders may find increased opportunities to match their song-identification skills against this species: It definitely seems to be increasing as a breeding species throughout our region.
Background
“Perhaps no bird is more characteristic of the pine forests of eastern North America,” suggests The Birds of North America profile of this species. Nearly always nests in pine trees – using at least 15 different pine species – and is generally most abundant where understory is scarce. It is the only wood warbler known to regularly consume seeds in any significant amount. It is also unusual among wood warblers because its breeding and winter ranges lie almost entirely within the United States and Canada. It is a common breeding bird in the southeastern states, where its numbers become especially abundant in winter, when resident birds are joined by migrants from other breeding areas that extend into southern Canada and the northeastern states. BBS data suggest generally increasing populations throughout its range, perhaps because this species can breed in pine plantations and younger pine forests. (BNA 438: 1, 2, 7, 15, 21)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this a fairly common, but irregular transient in Monroe County, seen only occasionally in Wayne and with no indication of occurrence in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated single birds were the norm in spring, with a maximum of only three, on dates ranging from 27 April to 30 June. Fall counts averaged one to three birds, with a maximum of 25, on dates ranging from 3 July to 14 October. “No breeding records,” he added, but it “stays late & appears early at times.”Edson in 1948 wrote that it nested in pines in several areas of western New York, such as around Canandaigua Lake. (WBR, 31 August 1948)However, when Leo Tanghe tallied up sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members within a 50-mile radius of Rochester for the years 1951-1954, he could find only 11 sightings, averaging only 1-2 birds each, with nine of the sightings in fall, two in spring and none in summer. (KB5:6A-6B)It did not make his 1953 list of species known to be breeding in the Rochester area. (GOS, May/August 1953)“Normally, all Pine Warblers reported would be included in the noteworthy records,” Chip Perrigo noted in 1977. “. . . however, this April they were reported with incredible regularity, and often more than one bird. Have these once very uncommon migrants suddenly increased or are there more aware observers out during their late April migration?” (LG, May 1977)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, rare spring and fall transient; an occasional, rare summer resident and a casual, very rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual very rare winter visitant and a (presumably regular) uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 3 April (1976) to 14 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 20 April to 5 May. Subsequently one on 31 March 1998 (R. Rosche) at Letchworth SP set a new record early date. (GOS, May 1998) In most years had departed by 23 May, with a late departure date of 7 June. Summer/breeding status: This species seems to be increasing as a breeding bird in our region.That is a marked change from recent history. Bull (1974), for example, listed only Letchworth SP as a breeding location in our region. (Bull, p. 502) During the first BBA project (1980-1985), most evidence of breeding was found in the southern part of the region, including confirmed breeding at Letchworth SP and in one of a cluster of blocks in the Richmond/Bristol/Canadice area of Ontario County. But it was also confirmed breeding in Webster Park. A pair was later confirmed nesting at Hamlin Beach SP (R. Spahn) in May 1998. (GOS, July/August 1998) The second project more than tripled the number of blocks with evidence of breeding, with increases not only in southern Livingston and Ontario counties, but along the lakeshore, where breeding was confirmed in six blocks, including Hamlin Beach SP, Durand Eastman park and in Wayne County.

At Letchworth SP, it “seems to be on increase,” park naturalist Douglas Bassett observed. It has adapted to many of the pine plantations ravaged in the 1976 ice storm, which created openings so that Red Pines could develop the bigger crowns and more open shapes this species prefers. Almost invariably found nesting in pines and more often in open pines such as red pine as opposed to white pine, Bassett noted. He estimates 15 to 20 breeding pairs in the park. (Bassett, “One Hundred Years of Natural History Changes in Letchworth State Park,” The Genesee Naturalist, Winter 2007, p. 18)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 10 August to 12 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 17 August to 1 September. Subsequently, one on 3 August 1985 (R. and S. Spahn) at Webster Park was listed as “first record for the fall migration.” (GOS, October 1985) In most years had departed by 6 October, with a late departure date of 24 October. Subsequently, one on 17 November 2001 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Hamlin Beach was later (LG, January 2002) and note occasional winter records below.Usually found in small numbers even during migration.
Fall maxima: 14 on 1 October 2005 (R. and S. Spahn) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, December 2005) Winter: Infrequent in winter. One coming to a feeder in Pittsford on 26 December 1954 was eating suet, Edson reported. “About two years ago two were feeding on suet at another feeding station nearby” in midwinter, he noted. (WBR, 3 January 1955)More recently, one was at Pittsford (T. and P. Smith, et al) all of January 1993, with two at Hamlin Beach (Davids, D. Tetlow) on the first of the same month (GOS, March 1993); another was at Irondequoit Bay (Davids) the following 27 December. (KB 44:123) Another was at Hamlin (D. Tetlow) on 23 January 2002. (LG, March 2002)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

(formerly Myrtle Warbler)Setophaga coronataformerly Dendroica coronata
Jeanne Skelly had often heard fellow birders talk about those memorable migration days when warblers literally seemed to “drip from the trees.” She experienced that firsthand on 11 October 1980 when she dropped by her favorite birding spot at a wet woodland along Brook Road. As she got out of her car, she could see a flurry of “bright yellow rumps of warblers” in a small bush next to the road. “Looking around, there was movement all over the woods. The sunny autumn treetops had Yellow-rumped Warblers, the dark areas, the road edges and the drying ferns on the ground all had Yellow-rumps busily feeding. I tried to count. It was impossible! One small bush held 12 warblers. The woods seemed to be moving with the flurry.. . . The only other warbler I saw there was one Nashville. After nearly 45 minutes of just Yellow-rumped Warblers I moved east to the marsh.” (LG, November 1980) Four years later, Frank Dobson had a similar experience. It had been a cloudy, warm day, with a sprinkling of rain drops, in the second week of May. Late in the afternoon, Dobson entered a lakeshore woodlot to find it “alive with song.” Birds “flitted everywhere.” The number of Yellow-rumped Warblers, in particular, was “amazing. They were high, low and stalking the ground. Pretty birds, with black, white, blue-gray and yellow plumage, they always are appreciated, but after awhile, a change is welcome.” (Birds, 20 May 1984) That is putting it politely. This species can be so numerous during migration that it tries the patience of birders, backs already aching, as they crane their necks, trying to find less common species in the canopy high overhead. As Chip Perrigo noted in 1977, “These hardy little birds seemed so persistently common that by the end of April they became noisy nuisances constantly flitting about and interfering with serious birding.” (LG, May 1977)More welcome is its recent introduction, and apparently expanding presence, in our region as a breeding species.
Background
Formerly considered two separate species – Audubon’s Warbler in the west, Myrtle Warbler in the east – this is one of the most common warblers in North America, breeding from Alaska across virtually all of Canada into the Great Lakes region and the northeast U.S., and also in the western U.S. southwards into parts of Mexico and Central America. This species is one of the most ecologically generalized of the warbler species, nesting primarily in coniferous forests, but foraging in a broad range of microhabitats and using a variety of foraging techniques. During the nonbreeding season, this species can be found in almost any habitat, and expands its diet to include substantial amounts of fruit, even digesting the wax of bayberries, permitting it to winter in coastal areas as far north as Nova Scotia. Reforestation and planting of pine plantations allowed it to expand its range southward in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, especially since the 1970s. Populations are increasing in the eastern “Myrtle” population, especially in northeast U.S., and stable in the western “Audubon’s” population. (BNA 376: 1-2, 4, 18)
Local history
Even in Eaton’s time (1910) this was an abundant migrant in Monroe County, and common in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to 10 migrants spring and fall, with a maximum counts of 150 and 200 in spring and 75 in fall. Dates ranged from 6 April to 30 May, and from 3 July to 6 November, with “one found dead Dec. 12, 1928.” (See Winter below.)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this was the second most frequently encountered warbler overall, with 390 sightings, trailing only the ubiquitous Yellow Warbler (410). It was the second most frequently encountered in spring (when the highest average counts of 50-70 occurred), and the most frequently encountered in fall and winter. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common to very common spring and fall transient; an occasional, rare summer resident and a regular uncommon to common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular common) winter visitant, a regular very common to common spring and fall transient and a regular uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 22 March (1953) to 6 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 12 to 27 April. However, one on 25 February 1984 (Griffith) west lakeshore was listed as an even earlier “first record for the spring migration.” (GOS, April 1984) Also early: one on 7 March 1987 (Nicoletti) at Braddock Bay (GOS, May 1987), also listed as “first record of the spring migration.” In most years had departed by 29 May, with a late departure date of 3 June. Two were also at Point Breeze (C. Cass) on that date in 1982. (GOS, August 1982)When 1,035 birds were banded at Manitou during a record-breaking two days on 18 and 19 May 1989, one hundred and three were Yellow-rumped Warblers. (LG, June 1989) This was the seventh most frequently banded species there in spring by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, with 1,497 taken from the nets. That included 235 on 8 May 2001. (GNR)
Spring maxima: 500 on 23 April 1977 (R. Clark, Perrigo) along the west lakeshore. (LG, May 1977) 1,000 on 7 May 1954 at Rochester. (KB4:47) 500 on 7 May 1983 (Davids) west lakeshore. (GOS, September 1983) 600 on 8 May 1983 (Davids) west lakeshore. (GOS, September 1983) 500 on 10 May 1995 at Island Cottage Woods. (KB 45:190) 500 on 18 May 1996 (Sherony, M. Tetlow) at Chimney Bluffs. (GOS, July/August 1996) “1,000’s” on 23 May 1972 (Esley) at Shore Acres. (GOS, July-September 1972) Summer/breeding status: The “final highlight” for the annual June field trip to Letchworth SP in 2002 came just as the group was disbanding, leader Pat Martin reported. “A Yellow-rumped Warbler gave most of us grand close looks at its magnificent breeding plumage, then proceeded to carry nesting material high into the white pine under which we stood. No matter how many I see in migration, this observer never tires of these birds.” (LG, Summer 2002)In Eaton’s time, this species was confined as a breeder to the Adirondacks and Catskills. Tanghe, in his 1953 listing of birds breeding in the Rochester area, didn’t mention this species. (GOS, May-August 1953) However, it has since expanded its range greatly outside of the mountains, reaching the southern tier just south of our region in the 1960s. (Bull, p. 486) Like Golden-crowned Kinglet, it probably benefited from the state-sponsored plantings of conifer stands, but it will also occupy a wide range of forested habitats, John M.C. Peterson notes. (Andrle, p. 378)Sightings at Honeoye and Hemlock lakes in June 1976 prompted Chip Perrigo to observe that “now that upland spruce plantations have matured, allowing the sudden five-year establishment of the Golden-crowned Kinglet, so follows the ‘Myrtle’ Warbler as a classic example of ecological succession and colonization.” (LG, July 1976)By the first Breeding Bird Atlas project (1980-1985) evidence of breeding was found in 25 blocks in our region, including seven blocks in Monroe and two in Wayne. The heaviest cluster of blocks was in the higher elevation forests of southern Ontario County. Harriet Hollister Spencer SRA was among the locations where breeding was confirmed (KB 34:244) during the first BBA.The second BBA project documented a continued increase, with evidence of nesting found in three times as many blocks, primarily in higher elevation forests to the south, including a cluster of blocks with confirmed breeding in and around Letchworth SP.

At Letchworth SP, it is “definitely increasing in a wide variety of mixed forests,” park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes. “They were practically nonexistent 20 years ago. Now pretty much all the (BBA) blocks have them somewhere.” Typically they prefer mixed forests, often adjacent to evergreen areas. They have nested in Letchworth SP since the 1980s, Bassett said. He estimates there are now 20 to 30 breeding pairs in the park. (Bassett, “One Hundred Years of Natural History Changes in Letchworth State Park,” The Genesee Naturalist, Winter 2007, p. 18)It has probably bred at Rattlesnake Hill WMA. (Fox, p. 83)Not surprisingly, with this species nesting in the southern part of the region, as well as to the north, wandering, apparently nonbreeding individuals occasionally show up on the lakeplain in mid summer. During 1980, yellow-rumps were found on 6 June, 1-13 June and 1 July at various lakeshore locations. (KB 30:230) Others in early August – such as one on 3 August 1963 (Listman) at Manitou (KB 13:210), one on 5 August 1972 (Listman) at Point Breeze (KB 23:44), and one on 11 August 1979 (S. Hazen) at Braddock Bay (GOS, October 1979) – were considered early fall arrivals.
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 15 August to 2 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 23 August to 19 September. Subsequently, one on 17 July 1993 (O’Hara) at Braddock Bay was considered a “first” of the fall migration, setting a new record early date. (GNR) In most years had departed by 10 November, with a late departure date of 27 November.  This was the second most common species tallied during a daily census of nonresident, migrating fall warblers in Badgerow Park during 1995-1998. Of the 2,704 warblers observed, 307 were Yellow-rumps, and the tally would have been even higher if the count had been extended into late October and even early November. (KB 49:10)Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 14th with 689 birds taken from the nets.
Fall maxima:     500 on 10 October 1984 (R. Dobson) at Hamlin Beach. (GOS, December 1984)
Winter: This is a hardy species, and by far the warbler most frequently encountered here in winter, and in the largest numbers. The first winter record appears to have been one picked up on 12 December 1928 in Highland Park. It “appeared to have died in the night,” Horsey and Edson reported in their weekly bird column. “It appeared to be in good condition, and it is hard to tell what caused its death. This is by far the latest fall record for Monroe County. Nov. 8, 1915, was the previous late record.” (“Warbler Dies Breaking Record for Late Autumn Stay in City,” D&C, 17 December 1928) Two in Durand-Eastman Park at the end of January 1940 among bayberries marked the third winter record here, according to Edson. “Once before it has spent the winter in Durand-Eastman Park and one was observed in Highland Park at Christmas time.” (WBR, 5 February 1940)When Leo Tanghe tallied up sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members within a 50-mile radius of Rochester for the years 1951-1954, he found 11 sightings for this species in January and the first half of February. (KB5: 69: 6A-6B)By the early 1950s, Durand-Eastman Park had become a regular spot for wintering Yellow-rumps. (KB5:15) For two birds visiting Mrs. Edward Munson’s feeders in Penfield in December 1963 “the favorite menu items have proved to be peanut butter, suet and suet cake with seeds in it,” John Brown reported. (BA, 12 December 1963) Wintering birds were also reported feeding on house flies in 1964. (KB 14: 99) Mendon Ponds Park has been another traditional wintering site for this species. Indeed, the winter of 1978-1979 was the “first winter in many years without Yellow-rumped Warblers at Mendon Ponds,” according to the commentary at the end of the January 1979 noteworthy sightings in the Goshawk. (GOS, March 1979) Thirty there on 25 January 1975 was a record number at the time (KB 25:96) but is no longer considered unusual. Birders compiling “Big January” and “Big February” lists in recent years have turned up even larger tallies.
Other winter maxima:      30+ winter of 1982-83 at Mendon Ponds Park. (KB 33: 119)       40 max. during January 1980 (mob) Mendon Ponds Park. (GOS, March 1980)      30 on 3 January 1982 (Davids) Hilton. (GOS, March 1982)      30 on 8 January 1977 (mob) Mendon Ponds Park. (KB 27: 98)    250 on 17 January 1998 (D. Tetlow) at Caledonia. (GOS, March 1998)      60 on 18 January 2003 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Caledonia Fish Hatchery. (GNR)      31 on 19 January 1985 (Griffith, et al) Spencerport. (GOS, March 1985)      30 on 25 January 1975 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) Mendon Ponds Park. (GOS, March 1975)      80+ on 22 February 1980 (Davids) at Spencerport. (LG, March 1980) Misc.
Western “Audubon’s” race, formerly a separate species, was reported here at least four times: One at a feeder 3-31 January 1974 in Pittsford. The bird had been coming to a hanging feeder close to the living room window of Dr. and Mrs. Charles Sahler on 5 Lacoma Lane, “sometimes with a Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler.” Francelia Munson, the first birder to study it, thought it might be a MyrtleXAududon’s hybrid, but asked Joseph Taylor, Leo Tanghe, Paul Weld and Gordon Meade to verify her identification. “It was their decision that it was an Audubon rather than a hybrid.” Thirty-two Genesee Ornithological Society members had an opportunity to see the bird. It would visit the feeder several times a day “to eat a frozen mixture of animal fat, small mixed seed and chunky peanut butter from a wire container suspended just above the overhanging roof of a two-glass redwood feeder filled with sunflower.” (GOS, March 1974)   One on 2 May 1988 (S. Carlson) at Island Cottage. (LG, June 1998)  One on 3 October 1990 (F. Dobson) at Greece. (GOS, December 1990)   One on 12 April 2000 (T. Hampson) at Hamlin Beach. (GNR)

Yellow-throated Warbler

Setophaga dominicaformerly Dendroica dominica Mid-winter warblers that shouldn’t be here have managed to find some very accommodating hosts – for the bird and birders alike.A Painted Redstart at Dansville (see profile). A Yellow-throated Warbler at Conesus Lake. The latter was found by Robert Ambrose and Ilene Montana along Pebble Beach Road near the shore of the lake during the Little Lakes Christmas Bird Count in 1988. The male lingered until 10 January, “surviving at a suet feeder.” (LG, January 1989) As with other rarities in this region, “tolerant residents” allowed birders access to their property. The Macks at 106 were “most generous allowing us to park and photograph from their property,” the Little Gull noted. Background
This is primarily a bird of the southeastern U.S., where “its loud, clear song filtering down from leafless trees is one of the earliest signs of spring,” notes George A. Hall in his profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It occupies two distinct habitats: heavily wooded bottomlands and swamps, and drier upland pine or mixed pine and oak forests, generally staying high in the canopy. For a warbler, it is uncharacteristically deliberate in its movements, and forages almost like a creeper. After retreating in the late 19th, early 20th centuries from northernmost parts of its range in Michigan and northern Ohio, it is now expanding northward. (BNA 223:1, 3)Historically, this was “one of the rarest warblers to visit New York with any degree of regularity,” Bull (1974) noted. However it had increased somewhat since the early 1950s, “although this may be reflected, in part, by an enormous increase in observers.” (Bull, p. 494)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an occasional, very rare spring visitant and a casual, very rare fall visitant.
Occurrence
About 20 records, most spring overshoots. Only two in fall and one in winter. 1. One on 15 May 1954 (Van Beurden, Listman, Corcoran) at Long Pond Woods. (KB 4:47, GNR) Later that year the GOS statistics committee listed Yellow-throated Warbler among the reported rarities for 1954 it had decided to reject, but gave a date of 16 May. (Goshawk, November-December 1954) 2. One on 8 May 1956 (V. White, Guest) at Mendon Ponds Park (KB 6:54) was observed among Yellow-rumped and Black-and-White warblers for “over five minutes, with excellent light conditions. At times the bird was so close we did not need our binoculars,” Vera White reported. (GOS, January-June 1956) 3. One on 20-21 April 1958 at Edgewater Lane, Irondequoit (KB 8:48) in the yard of Neil and Laura Moon. (WBR, 28 April 1958) 4. One on 2 May 1973 (Meade) at Braddock Bay. (KB 23:146) 5. One on 30 May 1974 (R. Clark, Symonds) at Bergen. (KB 24:136) 6. One on 4 September 1976 (Listman) at Braddock Bay. (KB 27:37) 7. One on 8 May 1979 (Moons, Dodges, F. Dobson) at Durand Eastman Park. (KB 29:147) 8. One 13-15 November 1983 (C. Cass, Davids, Dillavou) at Forest Lawn. (KB 34:43) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 34:219) 9. One on 6 May 1984 (Beal) at Island Cottage. (KB 34:180) 10. One on 7 June 1985 (Reinhardt, Stear, Spahn) at Holy Sepulchre. (KB 35:266) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 37:203) 11. One on 3 May 1986 (Reinhardt, C. Cass, Boudrie) at Ellison Park. (KB 36: 150) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 37:207) 12. One from 26 December 1988 (Ambrose, Montana, mob) to 10 January 1989 at Conesus Lake. (KB 39:110) 13. One on 13 May 1989 (N. Miller) at Long Pond. (KB 39: 174) 14. One on 22 May 1989 (C. Cass) at Island Cottage. (KB 39:174) 15. One on 10 May 1993 (R. Spahn) at Seneca Park. (KB 43:223) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 45:74) 16. One on 5 May 1996 (D. and D. Traver) at Webster Park. (KB 46:235) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 49:117) 17. One on 31 May 1997 (Bounds) at Edgemere Drive, Greece. (KB 47:203) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 50:21) 18. One on 16 May 1998 (D. and D. Traver) at Webster; accepted by NYSARC. (KB 51:487) 19. One from 30 May (R. Spahn, mob) to 20 June 1999 at Letchworth SP. (KB 49: 234,333) It was singing in an area of sycamores at Lee’s Landing during the annual RBA/GOS Letchworth field trip. (LG, July/August 1999) 20. One on 1 May 2004 (S. Hazen) at Durand Eastman Park. (KB 54:228) (Note: John Brown reported that one had been observed in January 1968 in Palmyra – in a garage, of all places. William Hartranft of Palmyra – “an experienced bird observor” – was understandably skeptical when one of his neighbors mentioned seeing the bird. When the neighbor then reported it had flown into his garage, Hartranft went over to take a look. After studying the bird at close range “for a long time, comparing it with pictures” in at least two field guides, Hartranft had to admit it did indeed appear to be a Yellow-throated. See BA, 11 January 1968. Unfortunately, other birders were unable to locate it the following day, Brown reported. Also, it does not appear in the Little Gull, Goshawk or Kingbird.)

Prairie Warbler

Setophaga discolorformerly Dendroica discolor
Though Badgerow Park in Greece is not particularly renowned as a birding hotpot, the 50+ acres of small woodlots, edges and fields can produce some interesting sightings when it is worked diligently. This birder, for example, could usually expect one really good bird each spring and fall when he conducted daily counts of migrating warblers. In 1997, that “really good bird” arrived on 9 September – the first, and only, Prairie Warbler he had ever seen at the park. It was with a couple of Magnolias and a couple of Blackburnians, “right out in the open, methodically working over an ash limb, then dropping down into smaller saplings that form a little clump at the back of the clearing.” The first thing that caught the birder’s attention was the “very unique” face pattern, with a dark gash curling in from the lower rear of the face. It also bobbed its tail. (Marcotte diary entry) It was a moent to savor, as this species is only rarely reported here in fall. Background
Before European settlement, this species of shrubby fields, dunes, young regenerating forests and other short-lived, successional habitat was rare or absent in much of its present breeding range. Clearing of forests allowed it to expand across much of the eastern U.S. into southern Ontario. Since about 1970, however, as maturing forests reclaimed abandoned farmland, and urbanization swallowed up other habitat, this species has decreased in some areas. Often cited as an example of a Neotropical species in serious decline, however, data collecting is complicated by the transient nature of the habitat this species uses. Analysis shows upland populations have declined in the Southeast, but lowland populations have remained stable and have even increased in coastal plains. (BNA 455:1, 23)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a rare species in Monroe County, meaning only a few had been seen, and gave no indication of occurrence in Livingston or Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated there had been records of this species in only three of those years: 1916, 1918 and 1920, all in May.When Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported only six times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)Even in 1959, Edson considered this “one of our least common warblers, and has been reported only a dozen years since we first saw it here in 1916.” (WBR, 25 May 1959) Bull (1974) noted that this species was “virtually absent” as a breeder from the Great Lakes areas of New York, yet was breeding to the north and northwest in Ontario province. This suggested that this species “has come not from the south, but from the west by way of Michigan, probably via the Mississippi valley.” (Bull, p. 505)It began expanding into south central New York during the last half of the twentieth century, probably as farmland reverted to the scrubby fields it prefers. (Andrle, p. 388) However, “as these (fields) revert to forest, Prairie Warbler habitat will once again diminish, so it is unlikely that the bird will ever become abundant in upstate New York,” Richard E. Bonney notes.And that appears to be the case in our region. Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, rare spring visitant and a casual, very rare summer resident and fall visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular) uncommon rare summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 29 April (1970) to 26 May. However, one on 23 April 1977 (R. Clark, Perrigo) at Durand-Eastman Park was even earlier. (LG, May 1977)One on 27-28 May 1993 (Brooks, Griffith) at Manitou was an even later date for the lakeplain. (GOS, July/August 1993)Spring overshoots are now reported almost yearly along the lakeshore, usually individual birds. Island Cottage Woods has been a particularly good location, with spring records during 16 years from 1983 to 2005.
Summer/breeding status: Sightings at three separate locations in summer 1978 were “suggestive of a return to breeding in the Region” (KB28: 240) and by 1979 these birds had established “a thriving colony high above Honeoye Lake.” (LG, July 1979) As many as six were there in June that year. (GOS, August 1979)This species has nested at Letchworth SP in young evergreen stands with shrubs invading them, and in 1982 was confirmed breeding near Canadice Lake during the first BBA. (KB32: 273) In his June Birding Tips in 1993, Bill Symonds recommended searching the “6-10 foot pines along Canadice Hill Road” but also noted that “no spot is very dependable.” (LG, May 1993) Three to four could be found all during June 1999 (K. Fox, Sherony, M. Tetlow) in the Nunda area. (GNR)However, none of these sites appear to have fostered permanent colonies.In 1993, the region’s only nesting reports were from Letchworth SP. (KB 43:315) However, because those young evergreen stands matured, it has not been found nesting at Letchworth in recent years, park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes.The BBA projects support the notion that this species is struggling to maintain any kind of breeding presence in our region. During the first project it was confirmed breeding in three blocks (Letchworth, near Canadice Lake and near Bergen Swamp); during the second project in only one.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated only one record, on 20 September 1953. This either overlooked or discarded one on 14 September 1977 (S. Smith) at Island Cottage. (KB 28:41) There have since been eight other records, four from 2002 to 2005, with a record late bird found by Gary Chapin lingering at Irondequoit Bay outlet 14-22 October 1995. (KB46: 47)

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Setophaga nigrescensformerly Dendroica nigrescens
“I don’t think anyone would have ever imagined that we’d be banding a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Braddock Bay,” wrote David Bonter, president of the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory board. And yet, a second-year male, which should have been west of the Rocky Mountains, wandered into the Manitou banding station on 30 April 2002 and lingered until 3 May for our only regional record. “Being so far off course, it is very likely that this individual had a faulty navigational system, and probably never made it to his Pacific Northwest breeding grounds. . . . Most of these lost souls are not likely to find mates,” he added. “However, vagrants have also been known to adapt well to their new locations, and may even establish new populations if they are lucky enough to find other vagrants to breed with. We’ll probably never know what became of our Black-throated Gray, but he certainly peaked our interest.” (BBBO newsletter, Summer 2002)
Background
This is a relatively common inhabitant of pinon-juniper, pine and mixed oak-pine forests, breeding primarily west of the Rockies from northern Mexico to British Columbia. Relatively tame, and easily observed, this species does not appear to have been affected by human activities to any great extent. “Species occurs in many habitats that are often of little economic value or are unprofitable to convert to other uses,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It is casual as a spring and fall vagrant as far east as Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, New Jersey and southern Florida. (BNA 319: 1, 3, 11)
Status Casual, very rare visitor
Occurrence
1. A second-year male 30 April-3 May 2002 (BBBO, mob) banded and photographed at Manitou. (KB 52:241, 244) NYSARC, in its 2002 annual report noted that “Superb digital color photos taken of the bird in the hand after being banded allowed for easy acceptance by the Committee. The photos even show the tiny spot of yellow above the lores. This warbler was trapped on three separate occasions (twice on May 1) and aged as second-year (i.e., about ten months old) by bander Charlie Eiseman. Most NYS records for this bird are from fall.” (KB 54: 298)

Townsend’s Warbler

Setophaga townsendiformerly Dendroica townsendi
The moment she saw it, Patty Reister of Hilton knew she had something different in her sights in the woods near the Hawk Lookout the morning of 20 April 1980. It was a warbler, “fairly high in the trees” and, like others of its hyperactive kind,  ”constantly on the move, darting from branch to branch in search of food,” John Brown reported. (BA, 24 April 1980) “At first it seemed possible it might be a black-throated green or a blackburnian warbler in some type of immature plumage.” Indeed, those first few minutes “became a perfect example of the potential for missing rare birds,” Robert Spahn noted. “The first attempt was to fit it to something expected, if a bit early.” (GOS, June 1980) However, after a second, longer look “it finally dawned on (Spahn) that the bird really looked like a Townsend’s Warbler,” which Spahn had previously observed in its usual habitat.He was right. Field books were consulted. The region’s first official sighting was confirmed. And dozens of lucky birders – including not only the other members of Reister’s RBA field trip, but members of a joint Buffalo Ornithological Society/Genesee Ornithological Society outing – got to see it during the next three hours.
Background
This colorful wood warbler nests in the treetops of mature fir forests in the Pacific Northwest, and also in spruce-fir forests in Idaho, Montana and northwest Wyoming, wintering along the West Coast south into Mexico and Central America. Vagrants east of the Great Plains are usually encountered along the East Coast from Nova Scotia to Florida. There is too little information about this species to assess its population status. (BNA 333: 1, 3, 14)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a casual, very rare visitant.
Occurrence
1. One subadult male 20 April 1980 (Reister, R. Spahn, mob) at Braddock Bay (KB 30:167) was “probably a first year bird retaining much of the non-breeding plumage, i.e., the yellows, the black throat and streakings were slightly less intense than one would expect on a breeding male.” (LG, June 1980) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 31:208-209) 2. An adult male 19 May 1980 (Kesselrings) at Island Cottage Woods. (KB 30:167) 3. An immature female on 13 April 2002 (Ewald) at Braddock Bay. (KB 52: 244; GNR) According to NYSARC’s 2002 annual report, this bird “was studied carefully for about 10 minutes as it moved through a stand of deciduous trees and vines at the western edge of the marsh at Braddock Bay. The relatively dark olive back, more solid face mask and yellowish wash to the flanks and underparts were consistent with a female Townsend’s Warbler rather than a dull female Black-throated Green Warbler. Although tentatively aged as an immature (i.e., second-year), several members of the Committee felt that good photographs or more extended study would be necessary for reliable ageing. Townsend’s Warbler is less than annual in NYS . . .” (Note: John Brown reported in his column that one had been seen at Durand-Eastman Park in August 1978. However, the bird was never reported in the Goshawk, Little Gull or Kingbird, and it actually may have been an immature Blackburnian. See BA 16 August 1978 and the account of the 1980 sighting in GOS, June 1980.)

Black-throated Green Warbler

Setophaga virensformerly Dendroica virens
From the left, high up in a conifer, came a distinctive zeee zeee zeeee zo zeeee. From the right, almost at eye level in tree standing farther down the slope, came an equally distinctive zoooo zeeee zo zo zeee. Amid the chorus of early morning bird song along Letchworth SP’s Mary Jemison trail in June or early July, these two songs will invariably be heard. They come from the same bird: Black-throated Green Warbler. The first song type is given primarily before males are mated. The second then becomes more dominant and is often given in territorial interactions with other males. (BNA 55:6) Even its loud chuck call, similar to Yellow-rumped’s, quickly signals its presence.
Background
This is the easternmost member of a superspecies that includes Golden-cheeked, Hermit and Townsend’s warblers, which are believed to have separately evolved when common ancestral populations were broken up and geographically isolated during the Ice Age. As noted above, this species has two distinct song types, one of which predominates until males are mated, after which the other song type increases. It is sometimes the most common breeding species of the northeastern coniferous forest, occupying a range that extends along the Appalachians into the northeastern United States, then westward through the Great Lakes as far as British Columbia. However, there is concern this species will decline with loss of forests on its Central and South American wintering grounds, and with increased use of pesticides on its breeding grounds. (BNA 55: 1, 2, 6)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a common transient in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties, and a summer resident in all three, uncommon in Monroe and Livingston, occasional in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average spring counts of one to three birds, on dates ranging from 23 April to 16 June. He reported a maximum count of 100 in May 1917. This may be a reference to 24 May 1917 at the Tryon Park sewage disposal plant when many warblers perished during a cold snap. (WBR 9 May 1960) Fall counts averaged one to two birds, with a maximum of 25, on dates ranging from 25 July to 30 October.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this was the seventh most frequently encountered warbler overall (196 reports), sixth most common in spring (137 reports) and eighth most common in fall (45 reports). Average tallies were three to five in spring, one to five in fall. Only eight records late June through early August. (KG 5: 69: 6A-6B)Tanghe, in his 1953 list of nesting birds in the Rochester area, considered this a rare breeder, and mentioned Bergen Swamp and Canadice as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)It has definitely increased as a breeding species since.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring and fall transient and an occasional, rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient and a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 21 April (1954) to 13 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 30 April to 6 May. Subsequently, one on 10 April 1992 (Browning) at Manitou set a new record early date. (GOS, June 1992) In most years had departed by 1 June, with a late departure date of 8 June. Spring maxima: Max. 30 during May 1948 (Taylor) at Scottsville. (GOS, May/July 1948) 70 on 7 May 1983 (Griffith) at Greece. (GNR) 60 on 13 May 1961 (Rosche) Letchworth SP. (KB 11:101) 26 on 13 May 1997 (A. Watson) Cobb’s Hill. (GOS, July/August 1997) 100 on 24 May 1917 stranded at the Tryon Park sewage disposal plant. (Bull, p. 488; WBR, 9 May 1960)
Summer/breeding status: Though many Rochester birders encounter this primarily as a migrant, it is a fairly common breeder, especially at Letchworth SP and other higher elevations to the south. For example, it was also well reported during the summer of 1974 near Honeoye Lake. (KB 24:191) This was reflected in the BBA projects.

At Letchworth it is “fairly abundant in evergreen woods and ravines,” park naturalist Douglas Bassett observes. Fox said it its often found in mature forests where Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbirds and Red-eyed Vireos also breed, but cautions “It is more commonly heard than seen as its plumage renders it nearly invisible in the green leaf canopy.” (Fox, p. 83)On the lake plain its breeding locations are scattered, but have included Reed Road Sanctuary. (KB 20:69) Bergen Swamp is another traditional stronghold, where this species was confirmed during the second project. (GOS, May-August 1953) Late migrants or wandering, nonbreeding birds can show up in summer away from known breeding locations. One on 13 June 1986 was at Brighton (KB 36:218); one on 7 July 1968 (Kemnitzers) at Pellet Road woods (GOS, October 1968) and another on 17 June 1970 (McNetts) at Webster. (GNR)
Summer maxima: 10 on 20 June 1971 (Maley) at Canadice Lake. (GOS, October 1971)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 15 August to 13 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 27 August to 3 September. Subsequently, one banded on 6 August 1996 (McKinney) at Manitou was an earlier “first” of fall. (GOS, October 1996)In most years had departed by 11 October, with a late departure date of 30 October. A total of 303 made it the third most numerous species during a 1995-1998 mid-August to mid-October census of nonresident, migrating warblers in Badgerow Park. (KB 49:10)
Fall maxima: 19 on 20 September 1996 (Marcotte) Badgerow Park. (Marcotte diary entry) 23 on 22 September 1959 (Schmanke) at Genesee Valley Park. (GNR)

Canada Warbler

Cardellina Canadensisformerly Wilsonia Canadensis
This warbler feeds nearer the ground than the dendroicas, Eaton (1914) noted. “I am always sure to find it about the tangles of vines and berry bushes in neglected spots near the edges of the villages, cities and parklands during the first three weeks of May.” (Eaton II: 463) One Rochester birder got a firsthand confirmation of that on 19 May 1989 in Badgerow Park in Greece. One of the woodlots there was alive with warblers, so he sat down in an area with lots of low bushes where the birds were working close to the ground, to take it all in. “There are warblers everywhere, Wilsons, Chestnut-sideds, Magnolias, Redstarts, Bay-breasteds and a Canada, which hops in a branch directly overhead while I sit on the ground and proceeds to ‘poop’ on my shirtsleeve.” It was, to say the least, a memorable “encounter.” (Marcotte diary entry)
Background
This active warbler, which frequently flicks its wings and cocks its tail, breeds in the northeastern U.S., boreal Canada and along the central ridge of the Allegheny Mountains to Tennessee and Georgia. It is most often found in cool, moist forests with a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees and a dense understory. This ground nester is one of the last warblers to arrive from to its wintering grounds in South America, and one of the first to depart on its return journey. This species probably benefited from the reforestation that occurred in parts of the Northeast during the early and mid 1900s. However, populations have steadily declined the last 30 years, probably because as forests mature, the understory this species prefers is eliminated. Loss of forested wetlands has also contributed to its decline, making this a high-priority species for protection and monitoring. (BNA 421:1, 13, 15)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a common transient in Monroe and Wayne counties, but gave no indication of occurrence in Livingston. He also entered it as an occasional summer resident in Monroe, and mentioned Bergen Swamp as a location where it had been found nesting. (Eaton I: county charts, II: 463)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds in both spring and fall, with a maximum of 12 in spring, and only three in fall. Dates ranged from 10 May to 16 June, and from 12 August to 31 September. It had been recorded as breeding in 1924.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 139 times, placing it 14th among 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence. Average counts were one to five in spring, and one to three in fall. Fourteen of those sightings were during late June through early August, placing it among the 10 most frequently encountered warblers during the breeding season. (KG 5: 69: 6A-6B)In 1953, he considered this an uncommon breeder in the Rochester area, and specifically listed the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and Bergen Swamp as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring transient, a regular uncommon summer resident and a (presumably regular uncommon) fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 3 to 20 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 10 to 15 May. Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 16th with 517 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 20 on 23 May 1976, location not specified. (LG, October 1976) 20 on 23 May 1996 (K. Fox) at Island Cottage Woods. (GOS, July/August 1996) 32 banded on 24 May 1993 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1993) 16 banded on 24 May 2004 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR) 16 banded on 27 May 2007 (BBBO) at Manitou. (LG, July/August 2007) 17 banded on 29 May 1997 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1997)
Summer/breeding status: This is an uncommon breeder here in dense undergrowth and thickets, either in wooded areas or swamps, where it often makes “flycatcher” sallies from the shrubs in search of prey. This appears to be a clear increase from Eaton’s time, when he mentioned only Bergen Swamp as a breeding site in our region. (Eaton II: 463) Fox says a June 1936 sighting at Mt. Morris caused quite a stir at the following Genesee Ornithological Society meeting, and was the first sighting for Livingston County. (Fox, p. 89) Breeding was confirmed at the Reed Road Sanctuary in 1951 (GOS, January/February 1952) and Tanghe, in 1953, also listed the Burroughs Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary as a breeding location. (GOS, May-August 1953)The two Breeding Bird Atlas projects produced very similar results, not only in number of blocks with evidence of breeding, but distribution of blocks. Most evidence of breeding was in the southern part of the region, in and around Letchworth SP, for example, and in the higher elevations of southern Ontario County. It was found in only a few scattered blocks along the lake plain, but was confirmed during both projects at Bergen Swamp.

An estimated 75 to 100 pairs nest each year at Letchworth SP. (Burger and Liner, p. 76) One such area is Dishmill Creek. (LG, June/July 1992) It has also nested at Rattlesnake Hill WMA. (Fox, p. 89)
Summer maxima: 5 on 6 June 1959 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) at Fishers. (KB 9:125)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 26 August to 7 October (1980), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 16 to 25 September. Subsequently, one on 7 August 1998 (Ewald) at Braddock Bay was a record early “first of fall.” (GOS, October 1998)Thirty-four were tallied during a fall census of migrating, nonresident warblers in Badgerow Park from 1995 to 1998. (KB 49: 10)

Wilson’s Warbler

Cardellina pusillaformerly Wilsonia pusilla
Southerly breezes brought another spring visitor to this birder’s backyard on 25 May 2006.“Chi-chi-chi-chi-che-che” could be heard from the thorny tangle of a hawthorn. A Yellow Warbler had been singing “Sweet, sweet, sweeter than sweet” in that part of the yard for a couple of mornings. But this song was different.“Chi-chi-chi-chi-che-che.”The birder briefly rummaged through his memory banks. Gotta be a Wilson’s, he thought, and patiently waited to see if he was right.Soon the nervous little songster could be seen moving through gaps in the foliage. Yellow body, with definitely darker wings. And then it was close enough to see the black skull cap. Definitely a Wilson’s.“Chi-chi-chi-chi-che-che.”It was still singing merrily an hour later. The birder was pleased. He had let his tiny, suburban back yard become completely overrun with a dense tangle of hawthorn, redbud, crabapple, honeysuckle, and red-osier dogwood. Not a blade of grass anywhere. Specifically to give birds a place to nest. Or, in the case of a Wilson’s Warbler, a place to stop over, rest, and replenish before continuing its migration. He thought back to a distant morning when he was leading a field trip to Island Cottage Woods, and a cooperative Wilson’s Warbler, foraging at eye level, had responded to his spishing by coming right up to the edge of the parking lot for all to admire. Well, perhaps now he was returning the favor.
Background
This “extremely active” migrant with glistening black cap, or “yarmulke,” can often be pished into close view as it forages through the under story and along wood margins. “The tail is constantly quickly flipped forward over the back or laterally in a circular motion, much like a gnatcatcher. The wings are also frequently flicked.” (Dunn and Garrett, p. 551)Wilson’s can be the most abundant warbler in parts of its breeding range, which extends from Alaska, across most of Canada and south through the western U.S. to southern California and New Mexico. It nests on or near the ground in riparian habitats or wet meadows with extensive deciduous shrub thickets, from sea level to alpine zones. BBS data suggest recent population declines, especially in the West, where destruction of riparian habitat has caused its extirpation in some areas of southern California. Its ability to use a variety of wintering areas indicates highest priority is preserving breeding habitat. (BNA 478: 1-3, 22)
Local history
“. . . in all localities near the southern shore of Lake Ontario . . . the Wilson warbler is quite regular in occurrence, but the abundance varies,” Eaton (1914) reported. “The late David Bruce of Brockport called my attention to the fact that during the years while he was collecting in Monroe county he was unable to secure specimens of the Black cap for several seasons; then perhaps in one day he would notice hundreds of the species and be able to secure all the specimens he needed for years to come.”Eaton considered it “considerably less common than the Canada warbler, but decidedly more common than the Tennessee and Orange-crowned warblers during the spring migration.” He listed it as an irregular migrant in Monroe and Wayne counties, with no indication of occurrence in Livingston. (Eaton II: 461-462, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds in spring, and single birds in fall, with a maximum of 10 in spring and only two in fall. Dates ranged from 10 May to 7 June, and from 23 August to 1 October.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported only 53 times, or only 25th among 35 warbler species in frequency of occurrence, with average counts of one to five in spring, and one to two in fall. (KB 5: 69: 6A-6B)This species is now reported more frequently and in greater numbers, according to recent banding results and an autumn census.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring transient and a regular, uncommon fall transient.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular fairly common) spring transient and a (presumably regular uncommon) fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 3 to 24 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 12 to 20 May. One banded on 2 May 2001 (BBBO) at Manitou was considered record early (GNR) until 24 April 2006 (Hartquist) when one was at Highland Park. (KB 56:242) In most years had departed by 2 June, with a late departure date of 30 June.Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 11th with 924 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima:      22 banded on 22 May 2000 (BBBO) at Manitou. (GNR)     30 on 23 May 1976, location unknown. (LG, October 1976)     25 were banded on 24 May 1993 (Brooks) at Manitou. (GOS, July/August 1993)     24 banded on 24 May 2004 (BBBO) at Manitou. (LG, July/August 2004)     20 on 28 May 1952 (O’Hara) at Manitou. (GOS, May/August 1952)     20 banded on 29 May 2006 at Manitou. (KB 56: 242)     18 on 1 June 1968 (T. Tetlow et al) at Braddock Bay. (GOS July/September 1968)
Summer: An extremely rare summer visitor 14 July 1993 (C. Dox-Griffith) was at Victor. (GOS, September 1993)       Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 16 August (1982) to 13 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 27 August to 8 September. Subsequently, one on 11 August 2000 (A. Watson) at Portage was a record early “first of fall” arrival. (GNR) Also early: One banded on 12 August 2006 (Griffith) at Manitou. (LG, October 2006) In most years had departed by 4 October, with a late departure date of 22 November when one was at Durand-Eastman Park (mob) in 1983. (GOS, January 1984) It was the fourth most common species, totaling 237, during a 1995-1998 mid August to mid October census of nonresident, migrating warblers in Badgerow Park. (KB 49:10) Its habit of foraging in the understory, often at eye level, made this one of the easiest fall warblers to detect. Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 21st with 349 birds taken from the nets. Seventy were banded at Manitou during September 2001 alone. (KB52: 61)
Fall maxima:   13 on 10 September 1998 (Marcotte) at Badgerow Park. (Marcotte diary entry)   10 on 19 September 1959 (Listman) west lakeshore. (GNR)

Painted Redstart

Myioborus pictus
“I have hesitated writing you for fear you’d think we are crazy.”So wrote Mary Dilgard of Dansville to Times-Union Birds Afield columnist John Brown on 21 December 1979. She wanted Brown to know that a “most unusual bird” had shown up at her feeder on the 14th. She couldn’t find it in her field guide to eastern birds, but did in another bird book. It was a Painted Redstart. Anyone other than John Brown might well have thought she was crazy, reporting a bird that should have been in Mexico – in the middle of an upstate New York winter, no less. Brown, however, “was sure she knew what she was talking about, having had some correspondence with her about birds dating back to 1955.”Unfortunately, when the bird did not reappear, it seemed as if this had been a one-day observation that could not be verified. Then, Brown received another letter from Mrs. Dilgard. The bird had returned just before Christmas. A phone call on 3 January confirmed that the bird was still there.Two days later, Brown drove to Dansville. The bird didn’t show. He went back the next day. And then, at 12:15 p.m., a small black bird with white wing patches, white outer tail feathers and a brilliant red breast showed up to “peck at seeds on a large feeding tray and then fly up to suet in a nearby small tree. From there it flew to the roof of the house where it seemed to be finding insects in the bright sunshine.” (BA, 9 January 1980) Thus began the saga of perhaps the most memorable rare bird even seen in our region. It was memorable not only for the bird, but for the extraordinary graciousness of Mrs. Dilgard, who was about to be deluged with birders at her doorstep.
Background
Sounding much like a Pine Siskin, this colorful wood warbler spreads its wings and fans its tail while creeping along branches, gleaning the insects that are startled into movement. This is a common species in the foothills and mountains of southwest U.S. and Mexico, preferring pine-oak woodlands and, in the northern part of its range, bottomland canyon areas where there is a permanent water supply. Male and female share the same colorful plumage, and both sing. Vagrants have been found, usually in fall, as far north as British Columbia, Montana, Michigan and southern Ontario. (BNA 528:1-2)
Status
Exotic, very rare visitor.
Occurrence
The Dilgard bird was not only our only regional record, but for six weeks, this five-inch bird was Dansville’s biggest tourist attraction. Brown’s column confirming the sighting set in motion an avalanche of interest that eventually brought more than 750 birders to see the redstart. They came from St. Paul, Minn.; Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York City, Detroit, and Hamilton, Ontario. The bird soon was the subject of a national wire story and a flood of local news stories. “It loves the peanut butter and suet Mrs. Dilgard has been putting out for it and also east seeds,” reporter Bob Bickel wrote. “Since she makes sure it always has an ample supply of food it is apparently making the Dilgard home its base of operations.” (D&C, 12 January 1980; BA, 17 and 31 January 1980)From all accounts, the Dilgards were equally solicitous of the needs of the birders, allowing them into the warmth of their home for a better view. “Birders are the greatest people on earth,” Mrs. Dilgard added. (D&C, Jan. 14, 1980) “Visitors have been as much impressed by Mrs. Dilgard’s hospitality as by the rare and colorful little warbler,” Brown wrote. “Without exception she has invited them in to sit and wait in her dining room for the bird to put in an appearance.” (BA, 24 January 1980) Indeed, Mary later noted, “I got practically no housework done except at night. Even then we had phone calls in the evenings from people asking if the bird was still there and that they would be coming to see it.” (LG April 1980) January 23rd was the last day the bird was seen. When it didn’t appear the next day, Mrs. Dilgard suspected the worst, and the following day went out to investigate, peering under shrubs next to the house where the bird would often take refuge.She found “his wing with the distinctive white patch, a little foot and the black and white tail feathers.” She immediately suspected it had fallen victim to one of several cats in the neighborhood. “God sent a bright ray of sunshine to hundreds of people in the form of a beautiful little rare bird and we will never forget him.”

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