Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- North America; Passeriformes; Wood warblers
_Field marks._--The adult magnolia warbler of both sexes is so
conspicuously marked that it should be easily recognized. The gray
crown, black back and cheeks, yellow breast and rump, the two broad
white wing bars and the large amount of white in the tail, midway
between the base and the tip, are all good field marks. The female is
only a little less brilliant than the male. The young bird in juvenal
plumage is quite different, but the position of the white in the tail is
distinctive.
_Fall._--When the young birds are well able to take care of themselves,
they and their parents join the gathering throngs of warblers and other
small birds in preparation for the southward migration. Brewster (1877)
writes:
In Eastern Massachusetts this species occurs as a fall migrant from
September 21 to October 30, but it is never seen at this season in
anything like the numbers which pass through the same section in spring,
and the bulk of the migration must follow a more westerly route. Its
haunts while with us in the autumn are somewhat different from those
which it affects during its northward journey. We now find it most
commonly on hillsides, among scrub-oaks and scattered birches, and in
company with such birds as the Yellow-Rump (_Dendroeca coronata_) and
the Black-Poll (_D. striata_). A dull, listless troop they are,
comparatively sombre of plumage, totally devoid of song, and apparently
intent only upon the gratification of their appetites.
Brewster was probably correct in assuming that the main trend of the
fall migration is more westerly. Milton B. Trautman (1940) says of the
fall migration of the magnolia warbler at Buckeye Lake, Ohio: "A
persistent search in mid-August always resulted in recording a few early
transients, and by the last of the month several were seen each day. The
numbers increased gradually through early September. From September 10
to 25 the greatest daily numbers were attained, and 50 to 125 birds a
day were noted. The numbers were slightly higher than they were in
spring. The fall transients frequented the same types of habitat as did
the spring birds, except that more were found in brushy fields or
pastures, especially those dotted or thicketed with hawthorn and wild
plum."
Prof. W. W. Cooke (1904) writes:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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