(formerly the Calaveras) warblers breed =north= to southern British
Columbia (Tahsis Canal and Beaver Creek, Vancouver Island; Pemberton,
Lillooet, and Revelstoke); northern Idaho (Clark Fork); northwestern
Montana (Fortine); east-central Saskatchewan (Cumberland House);
southern Manitoba (Duck Mountain, Lake St. Martin, and Hillside Beach);
central Ontario (Casummit Lake, Lake Nipigon, and Lake Abitibi); and
southern Quebec (Lake Baskatong, Quebec, Kamouraska, Mingan, and
Natashquan River). =East= to southeastern Quebec (Natashquan River and
the Magdalen Islands); and Nova Scotia (Baddeck, Halifax, and
Barrington). =South= to Nova Scotia (Barrington); Maine (Ellsworth and
Bath); northeastern Massachusetts (Haverhill and Beverly); southern
Connecticut (Norwich); northern New Jersey (Moe and Beaufort Mountain);
northeastern Pennsylvania (Dingman's Ferry, Mount Riga, and Highland
Falls); northern West Virginia (Stony River Dam, Canaan Mountain, and
Cranesville Swamp); northeastern Ohio (Pymatuming Lake); southern
Michigan (Ann Arbor); northeastern Illinois (Deerfield); southern
Wisconsin (Lake Koshkonong); central Minnesota (Onamia and Detroit
Lakes); reported to breed in northeastern Nebraska but no specific
records; northwestern South Dakota (Cave Hills); northern Idaho
(Falcon); northwestern Oregon (Powder River Mountains, probably);
probably western Nevada (Lake Tahoe); and south-central California
(Greenhorn Mountains). =West= to central and western California
(Greenhorn Mountains, Paicines, and Yreka); western Oregon (Pinehurst,
Gold Hill, Depoe Bay, and Portland); western Washington (Mount Adams,
Tacoma, and Blaine); and southwestern British Columbia (Friendly Cove
and Tahsis Canal).
There are several records of the occurrence of this species in spring
migration in southern Saskatchewan (Regina, East End, and Maple Creek);
and in fall at Lake Kimawan, Alberta, west of Lesser Slave Lake. These
records imply the existence of a breeding range north of any yet
discovered.
_Winter range._--The Nashville warbler and races are found in winter
=north= to central Durango (Chacala); western Nuevo León (Monterrey) and
southern Texas (Somerset and Matagorda County). =East= to southern Texas
(Matagorda County, Rio Hondo, and Brownsville); eastern Puebla
(Metlatoyuca); western Veracruz (Jalapa); Chiapas (Chicharras); and
central Guatemala (Barillos, Panajachel, and San Lucas). =South= to
Guatemala. =West= to western Guatemala (San Lucas and Sacapulas); Oaxaca
(Tehuantepec); Guerrero (Acapulco); Colima (Manzanillo); and Durango
(Durango and Chacla).
The Nashville warbler has been recorded as wintering occasionally in
southern Florida, but in view of the extreme rarity of the species in
southeastern United States it seems best to consider the record
hypothetical until specimens are collected.
Like other species that winter regularly in the Tropics, the Nashville
warbler can resist low temperatures as long as food is available.
Evidence of this is seen in the daily presence of one in a garden in New
York City from December 16, 1918, to January 9, 1919 (perhaps longer).
Another was noted almost daily from January 1 to March 1, 1938, at a
feeding table in Arlington, Va. The latter bird was caught and brought
to the U. S. Biological Survey for confirmation of the identification,
and was banded. On January 31, 1890, a specimen was picked up in
Swampscott, Massachusetts, that had apparently been killed by a shrike
about two weeks before.
The ranges as outlined apply to the entire species which includes two
geographic races; the eastern Nashville warbler (_V. r. ruficapilla_)
breeds from eastern Saskatchewan and Nebraska eastward; and the western
Nashville warbler (_V. r. ridgwayi_) breeds west of the Rocky Mountains.
_Migration._--Some early dates of spring arrival are: West
Virginia--French Creek, April 23. District of Columbia--Washington,
April 20. Pennsylvania--Beaver, April 25. New York--Canandaigua, April
25. Massachusetts--Taunton, April 24. Vermont--Rutland, April 27.
Maine--Presque Isle, May 2. Quebec--Kamouraska, May 2. New
Brunswick--Scotch Lake, May 8. Mississippi--Rosedale, April 26.
Tennessee--Memphis, April 16. Kentucky--Bardstown, April 28.
Indiana--Indianapolis, April 24. Ohio--Oberlin, April 19. Michigan--Ann
Arbor, April 25. Ontario--Toronto, April 29. Texas--San Antonio, March
27. Arkansas--Delight, April 14. Missouri--St. Louis, April 21.
Iowa--Davenport, April 26. Illinois--Chicago, April 25.
Wisconsin--Madison, April 25. Minnesota--Red Wing, April 29.
Manitoba--Winnipeg, May 2. Arizona--Tucson, April 6. Montana--Missoula,
April 25. Idaho--Coeur d'Alene, April 29. California--Buena Park, March
3. Oregon--Prospect, April 20. Washington--Tacoma, April 23. British
Columbia--Okanagan Landing, April 21.
Late dates of spring departure are: West Virginia--Wheeling, May 24.
District of Columbia--Washington, May 20. Pennsylvania--Jeffersonville,
May 20. Mississippi--Rosedale, May 6. Tennessee--Nashville, May 19.
Kentucky--Bowling Green, May 19. Indiana--Richmond, June 1.
Texas--Ingram, May 10. Arkansas--Monticello, May 9. Missouri--Columbia,
May 28. Iowa--Grinnell, June 2. Illinois--Rockford, May 30. Kansas--Lake
Quivira, May 21. Nebraska--Red Cloud, May 24. South Dakota--June 1.
Arizona--Otero Canyon, Baboquivari Mountains, April 29.
California--Cabezon, May 7.
Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia--Okanagan Landing,
September 13. Washington--Port Chehalis, October 11. California--Los
Angeles, October 8. Idaho--Bayview, September 12. Montana--Bozeman,
September 12. Arizona--Fort Verde, September 28. Manitoba--Shoal Lake,
September 26. North Dakota--Fargo, October 15. South Dakota--Mellette,
October 4. Nebraska--Blue Springs, October 1. Kansas--Lawrence, October
8. Minnesota--St. Paul, October 25. Wisconsin--Racine, October 6;
Madison, November 1. Iowa--Marshalltown, October 14. Missouri--Columbia,
October 19. Arkansas--Winslow, October 14. Texas--Cove, November 15.
Ontario--Ottawa, October 7. Michigan--Sault Ste. Marie, October 7.
Illinois--Springfield, October 2. Ohio--Toledo, October 29.
Kentucky--Lexington, October 16. Tennessee--Memphis, October 3.
Mississippi--Deer Island, October 16. Quebec--Hatley, October 18.
Maine--Portland, October 13. New Hampshire, Center Ossipee,
October 23. Massachusetts--Danvers, October 12. New York--New York,
October 17. Pennsylvania--Philadelphia, October 17. District of
Columbia--Washington, October 14. West Virginia--Bluefield, October 19.
Early dates of fall arrival are: California--Los Angeles, August 9.
Arizona--Patagonia, August 8. North Dakota--Rice Lake, August 18. South
Dakota--Yankton, August 2. Kansas--Lake Quivira, August 31. Iowa--Iowa
City, August 18. Missouri--Montier, August 8. Arkansas--Winslow,
September 8. Texas--Rockport, September 1. Illinois--Glen Ellyn, August
16. Indiana--Bloomington, August 26. Ohio--Cleveland, August 2.
Kentucky--Versailles, August 13. Tennessee--Marysville, September 1.
Massachusetts--Martha's Vineyard, August 17. New York--Rhinebeck,
August 13. Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh, August 28. District of
Columbia--Washington, September 5. West Virginia--French Creek,
September 7.
The Nashville warbler is a rare species in the lower Mississippi Valley;
there are only three records for Louisiana; and it is almost unknown in
the Atlantic States south of the Chesapeake Bay.
_Casual records._--Four specimens have been collected in Greenland: One
at Godthaab, about 1835; two at Fiskenaes, October 10, 1823, and August
31, 1840; and one marked "West Greenland," between 1890 and 1899. The
three latter were all immature birds. A specimen was collected in
Bermuda on September 16, 1907.
_Egg dates._--Maine: 27 records, May 8 to August 7; 15 records, May 27
to June 14, indicating the height of the season.
Minnesota: 11 records, May 7 to June 15.
Quebec: 32 records, May 28 to July 4; 18 records, June 19 to 29.
California: 23 records, May 17 to July 30; 12 records, May 21 to June 5
(Harris).
VERMIVORA RUFICAPILLA RIDGWAYI van Rossem
WESTERN NASHVILLE WARBLER
HABITS
This western form of our well-known eastern Nashville warbler, often
called the Calaveras warbler, was discovered by Robert Ridgway in the
East Humboldt Mountains, Nev., on September 6, 1868, and given the
subspecific name _gutturalis_. He (1902) describes it as similar to the
eastern bird, "but olive-green of rump and upper tail-coverts brighter,
more yellowish, yellow of under parts brighter, lower abdomen more
extensively whitish, and greater wing-coverts lighter, more yellowish
olive-green." He gives as its range: "Western United States, breeding on
high mountains, from the Sierra Nevada (Calaveras Co., California) to
British Columbia (Vernon, Nelson, Okanogan district, etc.), eastward to
eastern Oregon (Fort Klamath), northern Idaho (Fort Sherman), etc.;
southward during migration to extremity of Lower California, and over
western and northern Mexico, and southeastward to Texas (San Antonio;
Tom Green County; Concho County)." The 1931 A. O. U. Check-List says
that this form winters "in Mexico south to Puebla, Oaxaca, Guerrero,
Jalisco, and Colima."
Dr. Walter K. Fisher wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907): "The Calaveras Warbler
is a characteristic denizen of the chaparral and is found on both slopes
of the Sierra Nevadas about as far south as Mt. Whitney. It frequents
the belts of the yellow, sugar, and Jeffrey pines, and ranges up into
the red fir zone. During the height of the nesting season one may see
them flitting about among thickets of manzanita, wild cherry,
huckleberry, oak and buck brush, almost always in song; and while the
female is assiduously hunting among the dense cover of bushes, the male
is often singing in a pine or fir, far above mundane cares. * * * I have
observed this Warbler at lower altitudes on the west slope among small
black oaks, in company with Hermit Warblers."
Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood (1896) first saw it in the Sierras at 3,500 feet
elevation, but more commonly at 3,700 feet. "At 5,000 feet we found them
most common, and from 7,000 to 9,000 feet they gradually disappeared,
apparently going as high up as the black oak, in which trees they were
generally seen, skipping about in search of insects."
Grinnell and Storer (1924) say: "The Calaveras Warbler is common during
the summer months in the black oaks and maples along each side of the
Yosemite Valley and in similar situations elsewhere on the western flank
of the Sierra Nevada. Among all the warblers to be seen in the Yosemite
Valley during the summer months the present species is the only one
which does not forage and nest in the same niche. The Calaveras seeks
its food and does its singing well up in trees, but places its nest
immediately upon the ground."
C. W. and J. H. Bowles (1906) write of its haunts in Washington:
Like the hermit warbler, a bird of the higher altitudes in the mountains
of California, the Calaveras warbler, on reaching the cooler climate of
the northwest, is to be found as a rule only on the driest prairies.
Here the birds frequent the scattered clumps of young oaks and fir trees
that have reached a height of some three or four feet, and which border
the large tracts of dense fir timber. It is a noteworthy fact that,
while these birds are not often to be found more than a hundred yards
outside of the forests, they are seldom or never seen inside of the
dividing line where the heavy timber meets the prairie. Also they do not
encroach upon the hillside territory of the lutescent warbler, which
bird in turn does not appear on the prairies but confines itself to the
brush-covered uplands.
_Nesting._--Dr. Osgood (1896) found three nests of the western
Nashville, or Calaveras, warbler near Fyffe in the Sierras; two of these
were concealed under dead leaves, one of which was partially concealed
by a little sprig of cedar at the foot of a cedar stump, and the other
was under a little tuft of "mountain misery"; the third was in a thick
patch of "mountain misery" and was "well embedded among the roots of
this little shrub, and shaded by its thick leaves."
In the Yosemite Valley, Grinnell and Storer (1924) found a nest in what
must be an unusual situation:
The location was only about 75 feet from the much traveled south road on
the Valley floor and at the base of the talus pile of huge boulders. The
nest was in the face of one of the larger of these boulders, partly in a
diagonal fissure. It was on the north side of the rock and so never
received any direct rays of sunlight. The whole face of the boulder was
covered densely with yellow-green moss which in places was overlaid by
olive-gray lichens. The nest was 43 inches from the base of the rock and
about 60 inches from the top. Another nest was found in a hollow of the
ground at the base of an azalea bush, near an old road along the
hillside. The creek itself was about 50 feet distant. This nest was 3
inches across the outside and about 2 inches high, the cavity being
1-1/4 inches deep. Strips of bark of the incense cedar, plant fibers,
and horsehair comprised the building material.
The Bowles brothers (1906) say that the nests are very much like those
of the eastern Nashville warbler, as taken by them in Massachusetts. In
Washington, "the site chosen is usually at the base of a very young oak,
or fir, tho on one occasion we found one built under some blackberry
vines at the base of a large fir stub. The nests are sunk well into the
ground or moss, and are so well concealed as to defy discovery unless
one flushes the bird."
_Eggs._--The eggs of the western Nashville warbler are practically
indistinguishable from those of the eastern form. The measurements of 40
eggs average 15.3 by 12.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure =16.6= by =13.2=, =14.3= by 11.9, and 16.0 by =11.5=
millimeters (Harris).
We have no information on the incubation of the eggs or care of the
young. The changes in plumage parallel those of the eastern bird. Very
little seems to be known about the exact food of the Calaveras warbler,
and its voice seems to be the same as that of the Nashville, but the
following accounts of its habits seem worth quoting. Grinnell and Storer
(1924) write:
The forage range of this warbler lies chiefly in trees other than
conifers. Such trees as the black oak and big-leafed maple renew their
foliage every spring and the Calaveras Warblers find excellent forage in
the insects and larvae which feed upon this tender new leafage during
the spring and summer months. Less often these birds may be found in
golden oaks and occasionally in Douglas spruces. They usually forage 25
to 40 feet above the ground, keeping within the stratum of new foliage,
but they have been seen as low as 10 feet and as high as 70 feet above
the earth. When within the foliage their yellow and green coloration
makes it difficult to locate them, especially as the birds do not move
about as rapidly as some of the other warblers. At times a Calaveras
Warbler will poise on rapidly beating wings to capture some insect
otherwise out of reach.
Dr. J. C. Merrill (1888) calls them "restless, shy, and very difficult
to shoot", and says further, "When alarmed, as they very easily are, the
males move rapidly through the trees, often flying a hundred yards or
more at once, and were it not that their constant song indicates their
movements, it would be impossible to follow them. I have frequently
followed one for half an hour or more before I could even catch a
glimpse of it, and my pursuit of any particular one was more often
unsuccessful than the reverse. * * * I have never found a land bird more
wary and difficult to shoot. But as soon as the young leave the nest
this extreme shyness disappears, and the parents are readily approached
and observed as they busily search for food for their young family."
Dr. William T. Shaw, who collected a specimen of this warbler in
northwestern Washington, says in his notes: "This warbler, a singing
male, was noticeably a percher upon high, isolated cedar poles when
singing, having three or four favorite ones in his territory, which was
a hillside grown to a height of about 15 feet with second-growth
deciduous trees, following fire. He sang from a height of from 30 to 40
feet up near the top of these old widely-scattered, fire-blasted,
weather-bleached trees, clearly out in the open and isolated from green
sheltering foliage beneath him, in such a location as one is accustomed
to seeing lazuli buntings perch when they sing." Dr. Shaw thought the
first part of the song suggested that of Macgillivray's warbler, and the
latter notes reminded him of "those heard among the inspirational notes
in the song of the lazuli bunting."
The Bowles brothers (1906) say that, in the spring, the males have at
times a very pleasing habit while singing, "that of hovering thru the
air for a distance of fifteen or twenty yards. The manner of flying at
these times is very slow and closely resembles that of one of the marsh
wrens, but the beak is turned upwards and the feathers on the swelling
throat separate until it seems almost certain that the bird will sing
himself into some serious bodily mishap."
VERMIVORA VIRGINIAE (Baird)
VIRGINIA'S WARBLER
PLATE 18
HABITS
This warbler was discovered by Dr. W. W. Anderson, at Fort Burgwyn, New
Mexico, and was described by Baird, in a footnote in The Birds of North
America, by Baird, Cassin, and Lawrence (1860). The footnote occurs
under the explanation of plates in the second volume. The warbler was
named for Mrs. Virginia Anderson, wife of the discoverer.
Its range during the breeding season covers portions of Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, mainly in the mountain regions, and
it retires to Mexico for the winter. It seems to be more abundant in
Colorado than elsewhere, breeding from the foothills, where it is a
characteristic bird and perhaps the most abundant of the wood warblers,
up to 7,500 to 8,000 feet in the mountains. On the spring migration, it
is abundant along the valley streams, among the cottonwoods and
willows, or sometimes among the pines; but in the summer it is found
among the low scrub oak brush on the hillsides.
Bailey and Niedrach (1938) write attractively of Virginia's warbler in
its Colorado haunts:
In the broken prairie where the yellow pines have taken their stand upon
the crest of the tableland, and in the rocky canyons clothed with the
scraggly scrub oaks slipping down to narrow grass-grown creek-bottoms,
Virginia's Warbler chooses its nesting grounds.
Plants seem to burst into life during the early weeks in May. * * * The
flowers of the scrub oaks tinge the hillsides with a greenish-yellow
bloom; the green of bursting leaves and grasses soon blends with the
nodding blossoms of the pasque-flower; the beautiful pink plume sways on
the hillside, and yellow blossoms of the Oregon grape thrust forth among
the holly-like leaves, making one think of flowering Christmas wreaths.
It is then that the Virginia's Warblers are at the height of their
activity. Their colors are the grays and yellows of the new vegetation.
The males perch among scrub-oak branches and yellow pines, where they
are usually concealed, and do their utmost to outsing their towhee
neighbors.
In Nevada, Ridgway (1877) first observed this warbler "among the cedar
and piñon groves on the eastern slope of the Ruby Mountains. * * * On
the Wasatch and Uintah Mountains it was more abundant, being
particularly plentiful among the scrub-oaks on the foothills near Salt
Lake City. They lived entirely among the bushes, which there were so
dense that the birds were difficult to obtain, even when shot."
In the Charleston Mountains, Nev., according to A. J. van Rossem (1936),
"the distribution appeared to be limited to the so-called Upper Sonoran
associations of mahogany and Gambel oaks, and therefore the species is
considered characteristic of that zone, although the extremes of
altitude at which it was found were 6,300 and 9,000 feet. Because of the
relative scarcity of oaks, by far the greater number were found in
mahogany which here grows as low, dense forest, instead of in the more
familiar shrub form in which it is usually known."
In the Great Basin region, Dr. Jean M. Linsdale (1938) found Virginia's
warblers in a variety of situations, such as "in sage on rocky,
piñon-covered slope 100 yards from a stream; in sage on top of ridge; at
tip of mountain mahogany tree; in plum thicket; singing and foraging
through upper foliage of tall birches close to creek; in cottonwoods and
piñons close to creeks; singing in dead shrub 10 feet high at base of
rock slide; in aspen; in thickets of sage, elder, _Ephedra_, and
_Symphoricarpos_; in willow; on ground among rocks at crest of ridge."
The altitudes ranged from 6,500 to 8,000 feet, with the largest number
between 7,000 and 7,500 feet.
In southern Arizona, this warbler, according to Mr. Swarth (1904)--
proved to be very abundant during the spring migration, particularly in
the lower parts of the mountains; but the most of them seem to go
farther north, and but few, compared with the numbers seen in April and
the early part of May, remained through the summer to breed. The
earliest arrival noted was on April 10th and soon after they were quite
abundant, mostly in the oak region below 5000 feet, remaining so
throughout April and up to the first week in May, at which time the
migrating birds had about all passed on. All that were seen after that I
took to be breeding birds, for they gradually moved to a higher
altitude, (6000 to 8000 feet) and were nearly all in pairs. About the
middle of April, 1902, I found a few _virginiae_, together with other
migrating warblers, in the willows along the San Pedro River, some
fifteen miles from the mountains.
_Nesting._--Ridgway was evidently the first to record the nest of
Virginia's warbler, finding it near Salt Lake City on June 9, 1869. "The
nest was embedded in the deposits of dead or decaying leaves, on ground
covered by dense oak-brush. Its rim was just even with the surface. It
was built on the side of a narrow ravine at the bottom of which was a
small stream. The nest itself is two inches in depth by three and a half
in diameter. It consists of a loose but intricate interweaving of fine
strips of the inner bark of the mountain mahogany, fine stems of
grasses, roots, and mosses, and is lined with the same with the addition
of the fur and hair of the smaller animals" (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway,
1874).
Shortly afterwards, a nest was found on June 1, 1873, in Colorado, by C.
E. Aiken. It was reported by Aiken and Warren (1914) as "the first nest
of this species known to science. * * * This was sunk in the ground in a
tuft of bunch grass growing in a clump of oak brush, with the dead grass
hanging over and completely concealing the nest, which was reached
through a small round hole like a mouse hole through the protecting
grass."
Dr. Linsdale (1938) reports a nest found in Nevada, at an elevation of
7,700 feet, that "was at the lower edge of a clump of grass 20 inches
tall and 2 feet across. The surrounding hillside was of small rocks
lying at a maximum angle of rest. A few similar grass clumps were
scattered near, about 10 feet apart. The surrounding trees were mountain
mahogany and chokecherry. The nest was composed entirely of grass and
was in a depression in the loose soil. It was well concealed by dead
grass at the base of the tuft."
In the Huachuca Mountains, Ariz., Mr. Swarth (1904) found a nest that
"was built on a steep sidehill about ten feet from a much traveled
trail, and was very well concealed; being under a thick bunch of
overhanging grass, and sunk into the ground besides, so as to be
entirely hid from view. This was at an elevation of about 8,000 feet,
which seems to be about the upward limit for this species in this
region."
We found Virginia's warbler fairly common there in the middle reaches of
the canyons, around 7,000 feet, and found a nest being built at the base
of a bush of mountain misery; Mr. Willard collected it with a set of
three eggs on June 4, 1922; it was made of leaves and strips of bark and
was lined with horsehair.
Another nest before me, from the Huachucas, has a foundation of moss and
lichens, dry leaves, and strips of cedar bark, over which are finer
strips of the bark and shreds of dry weed stalks and grasses, with a
lining of still finer fibers; it is a shallow nest, its diameter being 3
by 3-1/2 inches outside and 2 inches inside.
_Eggs._--While 4 eggs seem to constitute the usual set for Virginia's
warbler, as few as 3 and as many as 5 have been reported. These are
ovate to short ovate and only slightly lustrous. They are white, finely
speckled or spotted with shades of reddish brown, such as "chestnut" and
"auburn," intermingled with faint specks of "pale vinaceous-drab." Some
eggs are profusely spotted over the entire surface, while others have
the markings concentrated at the large end. The measurements of 40 eggs
average 15.9 by 12.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure =17.0= by 12.4, 16.0 by =13.0=, =14.2= by 12.2, and 16.3 by
=11.2= millimeters (Harris).