Wilson's Warbler

Scientific Name: Wilsonia pusilla

Range / Habitat: Breeds in scrub habitats, particularly willow thickets in Canada, Alaska, and parts of the American West. Full migrant that winters in a variety of habitats in Mexico, including the Yucatan.

Field Notes: Warbler with bright yellow face and underparts. Back is olive, wings and tail olive-grey. Black beady eye and male with small black cap.

Personal Notes: Seen at Hok-Si-La city park in Lake City, MN.

Nashville Warbler

Scientific Name: Vermivora ruficapilla

Range / Habitat: Favours second-growth deciduous and mixed forests. Breeds in north-central North America and an isolated portion of the mountainous Pacific Northwest. Full migrant that winters along the coast of California and in central Mexico, excluding the Yucatan.

Field Notes: Yellow throat, breast, and belly with plain olive-green back and wings. Grey head with white eyering. Connecticut Warbler with grey down to breast and primarily found on the ground.

Personal Notes: Seen at Hok-Si-La City Park in Lake City, MN. Alternately know to the Spolts as the Memphis Warbler, Chattanooga Warbler, etc.

Northern Waterthrush

Scientific Name: Seiurus noveboracensis

Range / Habitat: Breeds in thickets near ponds, swamps, and bogs in northeastern US, Canada and Alaska. In winter, uses a variety of wooded habitats, generally near water, often in mangroves from southern Mexico, including the Yucatan, Central America, and into northwestern South America.

Field Notes: Large for a warbler, with a brown back and head. Buffy undersides with dark brown strips. Long buffy eyestripe. Constantly bobs tail.

Personal Notes: Seen at Hok-Si-La Park in Lake City, MN. Richard later found a several specimens outside Wellington, Florida in August -- not supposed to be there at that time of year!

Bay-breasted Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica castanea

Range / Habitat: Breeds in boreal evergreen forest throughout Canada, favouring the east. Winters in lowland tropical forest and second growth in Cuba, some Caribbean islands, and northwestern South America.

Field Notes: Small songbird but large warbler. Breeding male with black face and chestnut head and throat. Two broad white wing bars on black wings. Rufous on flanks.

Personal Notes: Seen at Hok-Si-La Park in Lake City, MN.

Ovenbird

Scientific Name: Seiurus aurocapilla

Range / Habitat: Breeds in hardwood forests from the mid-Atlantic states up through eastern Canada. Broader habitat range in the winter, when found in Florida, Cuba and other Caribbean islands, central and southern Mexico, including the Yucatan, and Central America.

Field Notes: Terrestrial warbler, olive above, boldly streaked / spotted below. Bold black-and-orange crown stripes and white eye ring. Song a loud, rapid-fire "teacher, teacher, teacher."

Personal Notes: Seen at Hok-Si-La Park in Lake City, MN

Orange-crowned Warbler

Scientific Name: Vermivora celata

Population Estimate: Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found in shrubs and low vegetation. Breeds in Canada, Alaska and the western US. Winters in the southern US and Mexico.

Field Notes: Dusky olive-yellow warbler with yellow under tail. Breeding male has orange crown, but this is by no means a commonly seen field-marking. Faint eyestripe and tendency to stay put can give the impression of a vireo, but easily distinguished by song

Personal Notes: Richard took this amazing photo at the Salton Sea during a January 2014 trip, and we have also seen and heard them in Migration in Minnesota (May).

Grey-crowned Yellowthroat

Scientific Name: Geothlypis poliocephala

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Range / Habitat: Lowland shrub land, grass land, degraded former forest in southern Mexico and Central America.

Field Notes: Warbler with relatively large bill, yellow underparts, olive upperparts. Grey crown and small black mask distinguish it from Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, Common Yellowthroat, and Masked Yellowthroat.

Personal Notes: Seen in Monteverde area, Costa Rica

Tennessee Warbler

Scientific Name: Oreothlypis peregrina

Population Estimate: 60M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in the Canadian boreal forest. Winters in Central American through northwestern South America and many Caribbean islands.

Field Notes: Small passerine with thin, pointed bill. Olive back, white underparts, including undertail coverts. Grey head with white eyebrow, thin dark eye stripe, and white malar area.

Personal Notes: Seen at Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Buff-rumped Warbler

Scientific Name: Phaeothlypis fulvicauda

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Lowland moist forest and inland wetlands in Central America and northern South America.

Field Notes: Long-tailed warbler with with dark brown head, back and tail. Buff underparts, eyebrow, and rump. The above photo is a juvenile of the species.

Personal Notes: Seen at Arenal Hanging Bridges, Costa Rica

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica pensylvanica

Population Estimate: 9.4M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Breeds in temperate forest and shrubland of eastern Canada, northeastern US. Winters in southern Mexico through to northern South American and several Caribbean islands.

Field Notes: Small passerine, typical warbler behavior. Unique in range. No other warbler combines a greenish-yellow cap, a white breast, and reddish flanks.

Personal Notes: Part of a good day of "urban birding" on the Mississippi River. Still. 

Black-and-white Warbler

Scientific Name: Mniotilta varia

Population Estimate: 14M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Breeds in deciduous and mixed forest in eastern US and most of Canada. One of the earliest migrants, found in any forest or woodlot. Winter in forests and forest edges from Florida to Colombia, including Caribbean islands. 

Field Notes: Dramatic black and white plumage as above. Somewhat unique in warbler behavior, this bird forages for insects while creeping along tree limbs, similar to a nuthatch. Blackpoll Warbler is similar but has all black cap with white cheek and does not creep along limbs.

Personal Notes: We observed the nuthatch-like behavior described above. These buggers are hard to photograph!

Magnolia Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica magnolia

Population Estimate: 30M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in coniferous forest throughout most of Canada. Winters in southern Mexico down through Central America.

Field Notes: Small songbird distinctive in breeding plumage with black mask, white eye crescents, yellow throat and underparts, white undertail coverts, black chest band and heavy black streaking down chest and sides. Basic plumage more muted as above with olive head and white eye ring, two white wing bars, faint flank streaks. Cape May Warbler similar but with rufous in the face.

Personal Notes: After several fleeting sightings the year prior in Mexico, we finally got several good shots of this warbler at Aguacate, Belize. Several years later we caught in breeding plumage (top) a little closer to home at Hok-Si-La Park.

Hooded Warbler

Scientific Name: Wilsonia citrina

Population Estimate: 4M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in deciduous forests of eastern US. Winters in lowland moist forest from southeastern Mexico down through Central America.

Field Notes: Small songbird with yellow face and underparts. Back olive. White spots in tail. Male with black hood and bib as above. Wilson's Warbler, which can overlap in the winter, lacks black bib and white tail spots.

Personal Notes: Identified by voice by our guide initially, and later seen as above, outside the entrance to Barton Creek Cave in Belize.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica virens

Population Estimate: 10M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in coniferous forest of eastern Canada and northeastern US. Winters in moist forest regions of southeastern Mexico through to northern South America.

Field Notes: Small songbird with yellow face and black throat extending as streaks down sides of chest, contrasting with white belly. Back and crown olive, wings grey with two white wing bars. Several similar looking warblers can overlap in winter: Golden-cheeked Warbler has black crown and eye stripe. Hermit Warbler has bright yellow face and black restricted to throat. Townsend's Warbler has black mask and crown with yellow chest.

Personal Notes: Spotted at Tikal ruins.

American Redstart

Scientific Name: Setophaga ruticilla

Population Estimate: 25M

Range / Habitat: Favors second growth forest. Summers in Canada, eastern US. Winters in southern Mexico, Central America, northern South America.

Field Notes: Unmistakable warbler. Male is black above, white below with orange armpits, wing bar, and edge to the tail. Female shown in middle picture and juvenile shown below, grey above, white below with yellow where the male has orange. Frequently fans tail and spreads wings.

Personal Notes: This bird entertained us for a long time on a garbage can in Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Common Yellowthroat

Scientific Name: Geothlypis trichas

Population Estimate: 32M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Summers throughout most of the eastern US and Canada. Winters in Mexico and Central America. Favors inland wetland habitats. 

Field Notes: Olive-backed songbird with yellow throat. Males with prominent black mask and white stripe above (as in the photos), females without. Song a repeated "witch-it-ty."

Personal Notes: We first saw this bird on a trip to Rhode Island, to visit Ted and Jo. 

Virginia's Warbler

Scientific Name: Vermivora Virginiae

Population Estimate: 400K

Range / Habitat: They are named after the American State of Virginia, which makes sense as the birds range only reaches as far east as the state of Texas. The bird's common eastern range is central and southern mountains of Colorado, central Wyoming, and central and western New Mexico.

Field Notes:  It is mainly gray in color, with a lighter colored under-belly and a white eye ring. The rump and undertail coverts are yellow. Males also have a yellow patch on their breast and a red cap, both of which are lacking in female and immature birds. Virginia's warbler can be easily mistaken for the Colima Warbler, but it is smaller and has a more yellow rump.

Personal Notes:

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica coronata

Population Estimate: 130M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Summers in western US, most of Canada, and Alaska. Winters in southern US, Mexico and Central America. Preferred habitat is temperate forest.

Field Notes: Full-bodied black, white, and grey warbler. Characteristic yellow forehead, chin, armpits and rump (the latter seen only in flight). There are plenty of other similarly colored warblers but none with this particular distribution of yellow.

Personal Notes: This species has distinct regional morphs: the Myrtle (top) is predominantly Eastern U.S., while the Audobon's (bottom) is overwhelmingly Western

Yellow Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica Petechia

Population Estimate: 40M

Range / Habitat: Yellow Warblers breed in most of North America from the tundra southwards, but they do not range far southwestwards and avoid the Gulf of Mexico coasts also. The Mangrove and Golden Warblers occur to the south of it, to the northern reaches of the Andes. Yellow Warblers winter to the south of their breeding range, from southern California to the Amazon region, Bolivia and Peru.

Field Notes: The Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia, formerly Dendroica petechia) is a New World warbler species. Other than in male breeding plumage and body size, all subspecies are very similar. Winter, female and immature birds all have similarly greenish-yellow uppersides and are a duller yellow below. Young males soon acquire breast and, where appropriate, head coloration. Females are somewhat duller, most notably on the head. In all, the remiges and rectrices are blackish olive with yellow edges, sometimes appearing as an indistinct wing-band on the former. The eyes and the short thin beak are dark, while the feet are lighter or darker olive-buff.

Personal Notes:

Palm Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica palmarum

Population Estimate: 20M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Breeds in bogs in throughout Canada. Winters in the southeast US coast, Caribbean Islands and coastal parts of eastern Mexico, Belize and eastern Central American, where it is almost always found on or underneath palm trees.

Field Notes: Small songbird bright yellow undertail and distinctive habit of wagging tail constantly. Underparts white with yellow on chest and under tail, back brown, no wing bars. In breeding plumage, bright rufous cap, yellow supercilium, and rufous streaks on breast. In basic plumage, dull yellow supercilium remains and there may be faint streaks left on the breast. Yellow Warbler is the only other New World warbler with rufous streaks on chest, but has a plain head. Likewise, Prairie Warbler wags tail constantly but has olive cap and black streaking on chest.

Personal Notes: Our most common visitor in the palms outside our beach-front casitas in Tulum and Ambergris Caye. We have also seen this bird in breeding plumage in late spring in Cancun, Mexico and in migration in Minnesota.