The most vivid memory that I have of seeing a Canada warbler is an old one, all the way back to the end of the 20th century. I was on a springtime hike up the mighty Mount Monadnock, one of New Hampshire’s great hiking destinations. I was still in my 20s and so I thought that it was perfectly reasonable to climb the mountain while carrying every single piece of photography equipment that I owned at the time. Boy was I stupid.
The base of Monadnock is covered with mature forest, but as you climb higher and higher the trees themselves get shorter and shorter. Before you reach the summit the trees eventually disappear, but there is a magical zone of forest that is made up of miniature trees. This means that the birds that love the treetops are forced to enjoy this type of habitat in a place where the treetops are only 8-10 feet above the ground. This can create some amazing views of birds and one that I saw was an exquisite male Canada warbler in full breeding plumage. The image of that bird is indelibly burned into my memory, but I never managed to get a photo.
Fast forward to the 21st century and I found myself stunned, amazed and thrilled to see another Canada warbler right in my own back yard. The lighting wasn’t quite as good as that Mount Monadnock experience, but the bird was closer and I had my camera at the ready. Time spent in the Thinking Chair paid off again!
The Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis) exhibits sexual dimorphism, which means that the males and females look different. The adult males have blue feathers on the head, back and wings with bold black speckles on the forehead. The feathers of the throat, breast and belly are a gorgeous yellow, while the undertail coverts are white. Perhaps the most attractive feature of the male’s plumage is a necklace of dark black stripes that occurs at the base of the throat. These guys are simply gorgeous. Adult females have the same pattern, but none of the colors are as bold or vivid.
Like most warblers, the Canada warbler is a Neotropical migratory bird that breeds in Canada and then spends the winter months in Central and/or South America. In the specific example of the Canada warbler, the breeding range covers an extensive swath Canada, including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and southern Ontario westward to Manitoba and beyond. However, the habitat that is preferred by the Canada warbler (mixed conifer and deciduous forest with a shrubby and mossy understory) can also be found at higher elevations in New England. Mount Greylock would be a prime example.
In such a habitat a male will set up a territory by singing to announce his presence. A female selects the males that they find most irresistible and then they start the process of building a nest. She will look for a natural depression on the ground (often the result of an old stump or an upturned tree) and in this depression she will fashion — you guessed it — the predictable cup-shaped nest built by most passerines, also known as songbirds. She will start with a foundation of coarse leaves, ferns, moss and grasses. Then she will finish the inner lining by adding animal hair, rootlets and fine grasses.
After the three to five days of nest-building is complete the nesting cycle is very predictable. The female lays two to six eggs (one per day) that are a creamy white with brown speckles and when the last egg is laid she will begin the 11-12 day incubation period. During this time she will have to leave the nest occasionally to find food. All the while, the male spends his time defending their territory so there is a place to actually find food in peace.
Once the eggs hatch, the male fully engages in feeding the chicks. They start out blind, deaf and utterly helpless, but in just 10 days they are strong enough to leave the nest and start flying. Once the chicks fledge from the nest, the parents will make sure that they are well fed for another two to three weeks. After that the chicks are on their own and the parents will not make any further attempt to breed. Their time spent on the breeding grounds is short and they won’t have a realistic chance to try a second nest.
The Massachusetts Audubon Society lists the Canada warbler as a “common” species for only two weeks in the second half of May. They are listed as “uncommon” for the first half of June and then as “occasional” for the latter half of June through the first half of August. Then, once the southward migration kicks in, the birds are listed as “uncommon” again for the second half of August and the first week of September. And then they’re gone, headed for their wintering grounds in the high-altitude forests of Columbia, Ecuador and Peru.
I will close today’s column with an admonition to avoid a pet peeve of mine. The Canada warbler should never be referred to as a “Canadian” warbler. Any warblers that breed in Canada could be considered “Canadian,” but there is only one species identified as a Canada Warbler. The same is true with Canada Geese. Many Canada Geese breed in the United States and so they are not Canadian at all. Many other geese that breed up in Canada are Canadian, but not Canada Geese. This is something that novice birders must learn, and it is usually exasperated when experienced birders try to teach them as soon as possible.
Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 29 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more information visit www.speakingofnature.com, Speaking of Nature on Facebook, or the Speaking of Nature Podcast.