03.24.24: Warbler on branch

Warblers are interesting birds to watch and photograph. The various species are usually very colorful, relatively small and very active, so it’s both challenging and rewarding to view them.

This is a male Prothonotary Warbler, named many years ago because the bird’s bright yellow feathers reminded someone of the bright yellow robes worn by papal clerks, known as prothonotaries, in the Roman Catholic church.

The Prothonotary Warbler is a fraction larger and more heavily bodied than most other warbler species. Males, like this one, have bright yellow bodies, blue-gray wings and olive backs. Females are slightly paler and have an olive green wash on the crown and nape.

When I photographed this warbler, the first Prothonotary Warbler I had seen, its behavior was identical to what I found in the bird guides. It was near standing water in a wetlands, hopping between branches a few feet above the ground while looking for food.

It’s always satisfying when I add a new species of warblers to my photo collection. Through the years I’ve photographed 22 varieties of warblers and spotted two or three others that I couldn’t get on camera. That sounds like a lot, but there are more than 50 species of warblers in a variety of sizes and colors that can be found in North America, a number that is difficult to specify because of the number of “transients” that occasionally show up during spring migration.

I get nearly all of my warbler photos during the spring, like this one, when the birds are migrating north from their winter homes in Central and South America, or occasionally in the fall during migration south. The range maps for most warbler species show Central Ohio as part of the summer breeding range, but it's been my experience that few hang around here for the summer. Most head north into Canada.

While I often see warblers in local parks in the spring and fall, the best place to see a wide variety is in Magee Marsh Wildlife Area — where I found this warbler — and other neighboring parks along Lake Erie in Northern Ohio during a few weeks each spring. Warblers' migration often includes non-stop flights of a thousand miles or more, so when they do make a stop they must feed constantly to refuel. That's what happens in May along the Ohio side of Lake Erie. The trees are filled with a variety of warblers, all feeding on insects to refuel before another long flight across the lake to get to their summer breeding grounds in Canada.

But this Prothonotary Warbler had likely completed (and maybe over-completed) its migration north. According to various birding sites, this warbler species’ breeding area includes much of the southeast United States and can, occasionally and uncommonly, extend north to the Great Lakes. This bird may have settled on the nation’s “north coast” for the summer.

I'm not a bird watcher. I'm a photo hobbyist who happens to shoot birds primarily because it is a huge challenge. Every shot is a combination of planning, preparation and luck. But bird watchers live for the spring warbler migration. Magee Marsh is packed every year on Mother's Day weekend when the spring warbler migration is at its peak. There's even a website - The Biggest Week in American Birding - dedicated to the migration through Magee Marsh.