life seemed to be confined almost entirely to the tops of the tallest
deciduous trees, where he would generally feed, with apparent design, on
the side most remote from the would-be observer, exhibiting a wariness
not expected on the part of a warbler, and finally leaving the tree, the
first intimation of his departure being a more distant song. He never
remained in the same tree top more than eight or ten minutes at a time
and yet rarely ventured out of hearing distance from the center of his
range. Fortunately, he would sometimes take a perch on a bare twig and
sing for several minutes, but the perch was always high and generally
with the sky as a poor background for observation. Had it not been for
the almost incessant singing, being heard almost constantly from
daybreak until nearly dark, the task of identification would have seemed
hopeless.
_Voice._--Aretas A. Saunders writes to me: "I have but six records of
the song of this bird. There is probably more variation in the song than
these records show, for all six are much alike. The song consists of
four to eight notes, of even time and all mainly on one pitch, followed
by a trill about a tone higher, the latter, in all of my records,
pitched on C´´´´. The first notes, in one of my records, are upward
slurs, and in two others the first note of the group slurs upward, but
in all of the others all of the notes are of even pitch and not slurred.
The pitch varies from G´´´ to C´´´´. The songs are undoubtedly between
one and two seconds in length, but I had no stop watch at the time, so
did not time them. The song is rather loud and not particularly musical.
In form the song is much like that of the Blackburnian warbler, but the
loudness, different quality, and lower pitch distinguish it."
Francis H. Allen (MS.) writes the song as "_wee wee wee wee bzzz_, heard
many times without any apparent variation." This was somewhat different
from the song of a cerulean I heard, which had a "chippy" beginning that
suggested the song of a yellow palm warbler, and also that of the
parula warbler. Rev. J. J. Murray writes to me from Virginia: "The songs
of the parula and cerulean in this section are very similar, but not
difficult to distinguish. The pattern is reversed in the two; the
parula's song is 'bzz, bzz, bzz, trill', while that of the cerulean is a
'trill, trill, trill, bzz'. The cerulean's song can be expressed by the
phrase '_Just a little sneeze_.'" A. D. DuBois tells me that "the
beginning of the song is similar to that of the redstart, but it ends
with a fine, 'wiry,' grasshopper-like trill, ascending in pitch and
drawn out to nothing at the end." Mr. Chubb (1919) describes two songs
of the cerulean warbler as follows:
The musical exercises of the bird consisted of an alternation of two
distinctly different songs, so different indeed that until the bird was
caught in the act we never for a moment suspected a single authorship.
One song suggested slightly that of the Magnolia Warbler but rather
softer, four syllables, though not quite so well defined as in the
Magnolia. The other, for want of something better, might be compared
with the song of the Parula Warbler, a short buzzing trill rising in the
scale, much louder and less lispy than the song of the Parula. The songs
were each of about one second duration, rendered approximately eight or
ten times per minute. Altogether the performance was quite musical, in
sweetness far above the average warbler song. These two songs were
generally alternated with clock-like regularity, though occasionally the
bird preferred to dwell upon one or other of his selections for the
greater part of the day.
Kirkwood (1901) says: "It also gives its song in a low tone as if it
whispered it, and unless the bird is carefully watched the observer
might be led to believe that he heard a second bird singing in the
distance. I have watched a bird sing thus between each regular song, at
other times it would not give it at all, or only occasionally, while on
two or three occasions I heard it given for quite a while to the
exclusion of the regular song, and quite often have heard it given two
or three or even more times in succession between regular songs." He has
heard the cerulean warbler singing through July and until the middle of
August; on August 19, he heard them singing "immature or imperfect (?)
songs."
_Enemies._--The cerulean warbler is a rather uncommon victim of the
eastern cowbird; not more than 10 cases seem to have been recorded.
_Field marks._--No other American wood warbler has a similar shade of
heavenly blue on its back as the male cerulean; its under parts are pure
white, relieved by a narrow black necklace, and it has two white wing
bars. Females, young birds, and even fall males are similar, and are
tinged with blue above and with pale yellow below, with a whitish or
yellowish line over the eye. In this plumage they resemble the young
parula warbler, but the latter is much deeper yellow on the breast and
has no line over the eye.
_Fall._--Rathbun says in his notes from central New York: "When July
comes the warblers will be found quite widely dispersed in any sort of
forest, because they are now moving through the country in little family
groups. Now and then will be heard snatches of the spring song. This is
but preparatory for their departure from the region, which takes place
in the latter part of August; we have never seen this warbler after the
first week in September."
Professor Cooke (1904) writes:
The cerulean warbler is a rare migrant in the States along the Atlantic
coast, though it has been noted in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.
In northeastern Texas and Louisiana it is not uncommon. Its main route
of migration seems to cross the Gulf of Mexico chiefly from Louisiana
and Mississippi. The species is one of the first to start on the
southward migration. By the middle of summer it has reached the Gulf
coast and is well on its way to its winter home. At Beauvoir and Bay St.
Louis, on the coast of Mississippi, it has appeared in different years
on dates ranging from July 12 to 29. For a few days it is common,
attaining the height of its abundance about the first week in August. It
then passes southward so rapidly that Cherrie was able to record its
presence on August 24, 1890, at San José, Costa Rica. By November it
reaches central Ecuador. Though the bulk of the birds perform their
migration at this early date, some laggards remain behind until late in
the season.
Dr. A. F. Skutch tells me it is "exceedingly rare in Guatemala. * * * I
have never seen the cerulean warbler in Central America." In Ecuador, I
found a male in the Pastaza Valley, at an altitude of about 4,000 feet,
on October 15, 1939. Two days later this warbler had become fairly
common in this locality, and I saw several individuals.
_Winter._--Says Professor Cooke (1904): "The cerulean warbler is chiefly
found in winter in South America from Panamá south to Perú, in which
country it seems to have its center of abundance. In western Perú Jelski
(Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 508, 1847) found it common at
Monterico and other places in the mountains east of Lima at 10,000 to
13,000 feet elevation, always in wandering flocks, which were sometimes
quite large and contained both old and young birds."
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North and South America from southern Canada to Perú and
Bolivia.
_Breeding range._--The cerulean warbler breeds =north= to southern
Minnesota (Minneapolis); southern Wisconsin (Barahoo Bluffs, Madison,
and Racine, possibly as far north as New London); central Michigan
(Saginaw, Locke, and Detroit); southern Ontario (Thedford, Plover Mills,
Warren, and Delta; perhaps Manotick); and southern New York (Lockport,
Rochester, Ithaca, Santa Cruz Park, and Wappingers Creek, Dutchess
County). =East= to southeastern New York (Dutchess County); rarely
northeastern Maryland (Towson); southwestern Delaware (Seaford); western
Virginia (Charlottesville and Natural Bridge); western North Carolina
(Morganton and Pink Beds); and northern Georgia (Lumpkin County and
Atlanta). =South= to north-central Georgia (Atlanta); south-central
Alabama (Autaugaville and Greensboro); northern Louisiana (Monroe and
Caddo Lake); and northern Texas (Texarkana and Dallas). =West= to
northeastern Texas (Dallas); northeastern Oklahoma (Copan); southeastern
Kansas (Independence); eastern Nebraska (Omaha and Pilgrim Hill, Dakota
County); western Iowa (Sioux City); and southern Minnesota
(Minneapolis).
_Winter range._--The winter home of the cerulean warbler is northwestern
South America, in the valleys of the Andes from central Colombia
(Antioquia, Medellín, and Bogotá) through Ecuador (Río Napo, Sara-yacu,
and the Pataza Valley); to southern Perú (Huachipa and Lima). It has
also been found occasionally or accidentally in central northern
Venezuela (Rancho Grande); and in western Bolivia (Nairapi and Tilotilo
near La Paz). Casual in winter or migration in the Cayman Islands and
western Cuba.
_Migration._--Late dates of spring departure are: Perú--Huambo, March
15. Ecuador--near San José, March 31. Colombia--Buena Vista, March 4.
Florida--Pensacola, April 26. Texas--Austin, April 30.
Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida--Dry Tortugas Island, March
23. Alabama--Greensboro, March 26. Georgia--Atlanta, April 13. South
Carolina--Clemson (College), April 21. North Carolina--Asheville, April
23. Virginia--Charlottesville, April 13. West Virginia--Wheeling, April
23. Pennsylvania--McKeesport, April 23. New York--Corning, April 25.
Louisiana--Grand Isle, March 27. Arkansas--Tillar, April 6.
Tennessee--Athens, April 4. Kentucky--Eubank, April 5. Illinois--Olney,
April 18. Indiana--Bloomington, April 11. Michigan--Bay City, April 26.
Ohio--Toledo, April 20. Ontario--Hamilton, April 25. Missouri--St.
Louis, April 12. Iowa--Hillsboro, April 18. Minnesota--Faribault, April
29. Texas--Victoria, March 17. Oklahoma--Copan, March 27.
Kansas--Independence, April 24.
Late dates of fall departure are: Ontario--Point Pelee, September 5.
Michigan--Detroit, September 5. Ohio--Ashtabula, September 27.
Indiana--Whiting, October 4. Illinois--Chicago, September 28.
Kentucky--Versailles, September 4. Tennessee--Athens, September 27.
Mississippi--Gulfport, September 17. Oklahoma--Copan, October 1.
Texas--Austin, September 27. New York--New York, September 18.
Pennsylvania--Berwyn, September 29. North Carolina--Raleigh, September
16. Georgia--Augusta, September 16. Alabama--Birmingham, September 21.
Florida--Pensacola, September 18. Costa Rica--San José, October 24.
Early dates of fall arrival are: Texas--Austin, July 20.
Mississippi--Beauvoir, July 12. Virginia--Sweet Briar, July 20.
Georgia--Athens, July 28. Florida--Pensacola, July 23. Costa Rica--Villa
Quesada, August 23. Ecuador--Río Oyacachi, August 10. Perú--Huachipa,
October 3.
_Casual records._--The majority of the cerulean warblers found east of
the Allegheny Mountains might be considered as casual. All records for
New England should as yet be so considered, though the species has
increased in eastern New York in recent years. About 10 individuals have
been recorded in Massachusetts; two in Rhode Island, and one in New
Hampshire. On June 2, 1924, one was collected at Whitewater Lake, in
southwestern Manitoba, the farthest north that the species has been
found. There are two records for North Dakota; one near Jamestown on May
28, 1931, and another near Minot on May 24, 1937. A cerulean warbler was
recorded near Denver, Colorado, on May 17, 1883, and a specimen
collected on September 2, 1936, on Cherry Creek in Douglas County. A
bird "observed at the Mimbres during the latter part of April" is the
only record for New Mexico. On October 1, 1947, a specimen was collected
at the southeastern edge of the Salton Sea in California; and on October
2, 1925, a specimen was collected near La Grulla in the Sierra San Pedro
Mártir, Baja California.
_Egg dates._--Ontario: 3 records, June 2 to 13.
New York: 22 records, May 29 to July 9; 15 records, June 1 to 4.
Pennsylvania: 5 records, May 16 to 26.
DENDROICA FUSCA (Muller)
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER
PLATES 40, 41
HABITS
Bagg and Eliot (1937) give the following account of the history of the
naming of the Blackburnian Warbler:
Some time in the later eighteenth century, a specimen (apparently
female) was sent from New York to England, and there described and named
for a Mrs. Blackburn who collected stuffed birds and was a patron to
ornithology. _Blackburniae_--Gmelin's latinization, in 1788, of this
English name--was its scientific designation until quite recently, when
in an obscure German publication, dated 1776, were discovered a
description of a specimen from French Guiana (which is well east of the
species' normal winter range), and the name _fusca_, blackish. Wilson
recognized the male as a rare transient near Philadelphia, but when he
shot a female (apparently, though he called it a male) in the Great Pine
Swamp, Pa., he named it _Sylvia parus_, the Hemlock Warbler. Audubon,
too, considered the Blackburnian and Hemlock Warblers distinct.
Blackburnian seems to be a doubly appropriate name, for its upper parts
are largely black and its throat burns like a brilliant orange flame
amid the dark foliage of the hemlocks and spruces. A glimpse of such a
brilliant gem, flashing out from its sombre surroundings, is fairly
startling.
Throughout most of the eastern half of the United States the
Blackburnian warbler is known only as a migrant, mainly from the
Mississippi Valley eastward. Its summer range extends from Manitoba
eastward to Nova Scotia, from Minnesota to New England, and southward in
the Allegheny Mountains to South Carolina and Georgia, in the Lower
Canadian and Upper Transition Zones. For its breeding haunts it prefers
the deep evergreen woods where spruces, firs, and hemlocks predominate,
or often swampy woods where the black spruces are thickly draped with
_Usnea_, offering concealment for birds and nests.
In Massachusetts, which is about the southern limit of its breeding
range in New England, William Brewster (1888) describes its haunts at
Winchendon as follows: "On both high and low ground, wherever there were
spruces in any numbers, whether by themselves or mixed with other trees,
and also to some extent where the growth was entirely of hemlocks, the
Blackburnian Warbler was one of the most abundant and characteristic
summer birds, in places even outnumbering the Black-throated Green
Warbler, although it shunned strictly the extensive tracts of white
pines which _D. virens_ seemed to find quite as congenial as any of the
other evergreens."
Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) that at Monadnock, New
Hampshire, it is "a very common summer resident. It is one of the four
deep-wood Warblers of this region, the other three being the
Black-throated Blue, the Northern Parula and the Canada. While all the
other summer Warblers of Monadnock seem better pleased with various
sorts of lighter timber, these four are commonest in the small remaining
tracts of primeval woodland, and in the heaviest and oldest second
growth. But despite this general community of habit, each of the four
has marked minor idiosyncrasies. The Blackburnian favors very big trees,
particularly hemlocks, and spends most of its life high above the
ground."
Professor Maurice Brooks (1936) says that Blackburnian warblers "are
thoroughly at home in the deciduous second-growth timber that in so many
places has replaced the coniferous forest. They range down to elevations
of 2,500 feet in northern West Virginia. Here they associate with
Golden-winged and Chestnut-sided warblers. A favorite perch is on some
chestnut tree that has been killed by the blight." Rev. J. J. Murray
tells me that, in Virginia, it is "common above 1,500 feet, wherever
there are conifers." And Thomas D. Burleigh (1941) says of its status
on Mount Mitchell in western North Carolina: "Although not known to
breed above an altitude of approximately 5,000 feet, this species is
fairly plentiful during the late summer in the fir and spruce woods at
the top of the mountain, appearing regularly in July and lingering
through September."
_Spring._--The Blackburnian warbler is apparently rare in spring in the
Atlantic States south of North Carolina; its migration range extends
westward to the plains of eastern Texas, eastern Kansas, and eastern
Nebraska, but it is rare west of the forested regions of the Mississippi
Valley. Professor Cooke (1904) says that the average rate of migration
"from the mouth of the Mississippi to its source, where it breeds,
appears to be scarcely 25 miles per day." Forbush (1929) writes:
It is generally regarded as rare in migration in Massachusetts, though
probably untold numbers pass over the state every year, but only a few
stop here. It is not when the birds are migrating that we see them, but
when they _stop_ to rest. * * * I can recall but two instances in my
lifetime when myriads of Blackburnian Warblers stopped here, though
other similar flights probably have come when I was not there to see. At
sunrise one morning in early May, many years ago, when the tiny green
leaves were just breaking forth on the tall trees of the woods near
Worcester, Blackburnians were everywhere in the tree-tops. They swarmed
in the woods for miles. Years later, in Amesbury, on another May
morning, the night flight, having met a cold wave from the north with a
light frost, had come down to earth and the birds were busily looking
for food; many Blackburnians and many other warblers were in the low
shrubbery, in the grass, and even on plowed fields in every direction
all through the village and about the farms. The sudden cold had stopped
them. A few hours later as the day grew warmer they disappeared and were
not seen again.
Brewster (1906) says: "We see the beautiful Blackburnian oftenest during
the later part of May, in extensive tracts of upland woods, where it
spends much of its time in the tops of the larger trees, showing a
decided preference for hemlocks and white pines. In Cambridge I have
repeatedly observed it in our garden and the immediate neighborhood,
usually in tall elms or in blossoming apple trees."
_Nesting._--So far as I can learn, the nest of the Blackburnian warbler
is almost always placed in a coniferous tree at heights ranging from 5
feet to over 80 feet above the ground; nests have been reported many
times in hemlocks, which seems to be a favorite tree, but also in
spruces, firs, tamaracks, pines and even a cedar. Ora W. Knight (1908)
says: "I have found them breeding in colonies as a rule, that is to say,
in a rather dense, mossy carpeted tract of evergreen woods near the pond
at Pittsfield [Maine], covering perhaps a square mile, there were about
ten pairs of these birds to be found, and in a tract of similar woods
about half this size at Bangor there are often six or eight pair
nesting. In other words, in suitable localities they tend to congregate
in loosely scattered assemblies, while in less suitable spots,
generally none, or at most a single pair will be found." Of a nest found
near Winchendon, Mass., Brewster (1888) writes:
The nest, which was found by watching the female, was built at a height
of about thirty feet above the ground, on the horizontal branch of a
black spruce, some six feet out from the main stem. Its bottom rested
securely near the base of a short, stout twig. Above and on every side
masses of dark spruce foliage, rendered still denser by a draping of
_Usnea_ (which covered the entire tree profusely), hid the nest so
perfectly that not a vestige of it could be seen from any direction.
This nest is composed outwardly of fine twigs, among which some of the
surrounding _Usnea_ is entangled and interwoven. The lining is of horse
hair, fine, dry grasses, and a few of the black rootlets used by _D.
maculosa_. The whole structure is light and airy in appearance, and
resembles rather closely the nest of the Chipping Sparrow.
The highest nest of which I can find any record is one reported by Dr.
C. Hart Merriam (1885), found by A. J. Dayan in a grove of large white
pines (_Pinus strobus_), in Lewis County, N. Y. It was saddled on a
horizontal limb of one of the pines, about 84 feet from the ground and
about 10 feet out from the trunk. "The nest is large, substantial, and
very compact. It consists almost entirely of a thick and densely woven
mat of the soft down of the cattail (_Typha latifolia_), with seeds
attached, and is lined with fine lichens, horse hair, and a piece of
white thread. On the outside is an irregular covering of small twigs and
rootlets, with here and there a stem of moss or a bit of lichen."
The lowest nests that I have heard of are recorded in Frederic H.
Kennard's notes from Maine; one was only 5-1/2 feet up and the other 9
feet from the ground in small spruces. Mrs. Nice (1932) found a nest
near her mother's home in Pelham, Mass., that was "18 feet from the
ground near the top of a cedar among comparatively open, young growth,
40 yards south of the house and 150 yards to the east of the great pines
and hemlocks where the male habitually sang." The only nest of this
warbler that I have ever seen was found by watching the female building
it, on June 16, 1913, on an island in Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba; it
was only about 10 feet from the ground, near the end of a drooping
branch of a large black spruce that stood on the edge of some coniferous
woods next to an open swale. The nest, shaded from above, was partly
concealed from below by dense foliage and was, apparently, well made of
soft fibers, deeply cupped, and lined with some dark material and a
little willow cotton. I was not able to visit the island again.
In New York State and in Pennsylvania, the nests of the Blackburnian
warbler are almost invariably placed in hemlocks. All of the four nests
recorded by T. E. McMullen (MS.) from the Pocono Mountains, Pa., were in
hemlocks. And Todd (1940) states that with one exception all the nests
found by R. B. Simpson, of Warren, Pa., were in hemlocks, "at
elevations varying from twenty to fifty feet. The exceptional nest was
in a large chestnut, sixty feet from the ground."
Dr. Roberts (1936) mentions a Minnesota nest "situated in an arbor vitae
tree, directly over the entrance to a cabin," and one "placed in a small
spruce, close to the trunk, about 2 feet from the top of the tree and
about 20 feet from the ground." Another was found in "a jack-pine tree,
20 feet from the ground, 6 feet from the trunk, resting in a tangle of
small branches, and concealed by a closely overhanging branch."
_Eggs._--The Blackburnian warbler lays normally 4 or 5 eggs, usually 4;
in a series of 14 sets there are only 3 sets of 5. They are ovate to
short ovate and slightly glossy. The ground color is snowy white or very
pale greenish white, and is handsomely spotted and blotched with
"auburn," "bay," "argus brown," "Mars brown," or "mummy brown," with
undertones of "brownish drab," or "light vinaceous-drab." On some eggs
the drab marks are the most prevalent, with fewer but more prominent
spots or blotches of dark brown shades, such as "Mars brown" and "mummy
brown." Others have spots of "auburn" and "bay" so concentrated that
they form a solid band around the large end. In addition a few small
scrawls of brownish black are often found. Generally speaking the
markings tend to form a wreath, but some eggs are spotted more or less
evenly all over the surface. The measurements of 50 eggs average 17.2 by
12.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =18.0= by
13.6, 17.0 by =13.7=, =15.6= by 12.5, and 17.1 by =12.0= millimeters
(Harris).
_Young._--We have no information on incubation and very little on the
care of the young. The male has been seen to go onto the nest, and
evidently shares occasionally in the duty of incubation. Both parents
help in feeding the young, as noted by Mrs. Nice (1932) at the nest she
was watching. When Mrs. Nice's daughter climbed a tree near the nest,
the female "assumed a peculiar attitude, her tail outspread and dropped
at right angles to her body, her wings flipping rapidly and occasionally
held stiffly up or down. The excitement caused the young to jump out on
the ground where they could not be found."