Seward, Alaska
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS are
easier to hear than see, now that the leaves are fully unfolded and fluttering
in the breeze. The males might be detected by tracking their relatively slow,
rolling warble, but the quiet females are elusive. I was lucky to watch this
pair chase after one another at Exit Glacier, pausing briefly to snatch up a
small insect here and there in a tangle of branches and foliage. There are few
birds more erratic than warblers; a real photographic challenge.
The range of this
white-throated subspecies AKA "Myrtle Warbler" includes eastern USA
but the breeding range extends north through Canada's boreal forest all the way
to Alaska. The yellow-throated "Audubon Warbler" is common in the
Lower 48 western mountainous region but not in Alaska. Where the ranges
overlap, they hybridize. Some references (including the Audubon.org website)
refer to the Myrtle as the eastern variation and the Audubon as the western,
but they are forgetting about all the Myrtles nesting in the vast boreal forest
of Canada and Alaska.
Try to find these fairly
large, strikingly patterned warblers while they are still singing, unless you
prefer to wait for a really big challenge!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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