Black & White Warblers: Summer Warblers of Northern Illinois

A Balck & White Warbler, Klehm Arboretum, Rockford, IL; 5/7/2011.

The fourth warbler of my "Warbler Week" series is a little warbler that I first saw many years ago while hiking through the Red River Gorge of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. In early May, I had the opportunity to hike through the beautiful Klehm Arboretum in southwest Rockford (an area I don't often go to beacuse there is usually an entrance fee), I was able to capture a Black & White Warbler (Above) doing its tree-clinging thing. They often act more like a brown creeper or a nuthatch than a warbler, as they cling to the sides of trees gleaning insects from the bark crawling up and down the sides the tree trunks. These warblers look like little Zebra birds with striking black and white stripes covering their sides, throat, wings and head.

Another Black & White Warbler, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 5/8/2011.

As luck would have it, after five years of not seeing these little guys, the day after I spotted the B&W in Klehm Arboretum, I saw another one in Rock Cut State Park (Above). Then I spotted another one in Arkansas outside the cabin we were renting along the Buffalo National River this past June - three times within a month and a half! Cool! I love watching them creep up the sides of massive tree trunks - and because of their markings and coloring, they are almost incognito as they blend into the texture of the tree bark.

Yet another B&W Warbler, Buffalo National River, Arkansas; 6/24/2011.

Sunset of the day, Arches National Park, Moab, UT; July, 2005.

American Redstart; Summer Warblers of Northern Illinois

The American Redstart is a common warbler in Northern Illinois,
 Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 5/8/2011.

The third warbler of my "Warbler Week" series is the American Redstart (Above), which is unlike most of the male warblers in that it isn't predominantly yellow and gray. This beautiful warbler has the colors of a Baltimore Oriole (orange and black), but is much smaller at 5 1/4" in length (compared to the Baltimore Oriole's 8 3/4"). In summers, Redstart Warblers can be found in the Eastern half of the U.S. but in the northern states it will stretch its range into Montana and Wyoming and as far west as Canada's British Columbia. I usually have luck finding Redstarts in deciduous trees starting in mid May. They seem to be very vocal singing their songs continuously and tend to stay in the lower halves of trees - so it is one of the easier warblers to find and photograph.

A female American Redstart, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/22/2011.

Females (Above) look more like most warblers as its common colors are yellow, gray, and olive. They have a gray head and undersides with yellow flanks a yellow wingbar and two large yellow patches on its tail which they like to fan out in flight (Below).

 A good look at the fanned out tail of a female American Redstart, Rockford, IL; 5/14/2011.

 In mid-May we had another first in our yard (FIY), as a pair of American Redstarts flitted back and forth from our big oak tree to a feeding station. I was hoping they might consider nesting in our yard, but alas, I didn't see them again after that day.

I loved the colors from this sunset reflecting on Lake Superior, Porcupines Mountains, Upper Michigan; 5/24/2008.

Common Yellowthroat: Summer Warblers in Northern Illinois

The Common Yellowthroat is common throughout North America, Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin; 5/29/2011.

The second featured bird in my "Warbler Week" series is probably the second most common warbler (after "Old Yeller" yesterday's post 7/4/2011) found in my area of northern Illinois  is the Common Yellowthroat (Above). Which is not surprising as it fairly common throughout the entire country, most of Canada and the higher elevations of Mexico as well.

The same Common Yellowthroat, Horicon Marsh NWR, Wisconsin; 5/29/2011.

I have heard the Common Yellowthroat's loud "wichety wichety wichety" song in every part of the country that I have visited - usually in brushy or marshy areas as it flies hurriedly from reed to reed and usually hidden in the thickets. I hear this little 5" bird before I catch a glimpse of its bright yellow throat flashing in between branches. Very seldom it sits still long enough to get a decent picture, but I lucked out with the one (Above) at Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, as it stayed in the open for several seconds before it disappeared into the lower cattails.

Sunset of the Day

A beautiful Lake Superior sunset, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park,
Upper Michigan; 5/25/2008.

As promised, my sunset of the day is from a Memorial Day weekend trip that Val and I took in 2008. We rented a cabin in the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness on the shores of the beautiful Lake Superior, and each night we were treated with awesome sunsets (Above).

Warblers of Northern Illinois: The Yellow Warbler

The Yellow Warbler, or "Old yeller" as referred to by many vetran birders, is by far the most common of the wood warblers that I see in the Rockford area, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/8/2011.

Wood Warblers are a huge weak spot on my 'Life List' of my young birding history. The main guidebook that I use most often, The Sibley Field Guide To Birds of North America, has listed 18 different types of warblers that will spend their summers in our area of Northern Illinois. Since I've started taking birding more seriously within the last two years, I have only seen and identified 11 of these warblers; however, only seven of those eleven I have identified in the Rockford (IL) area. The other four I identified in other states. So needless to say, I am always excited to spot and identify a warbler. My main downfall at the moment, is not being able to recognize all of their various songs, so when I hear them sing, but cannot readily see the bird doing the singing, I miss that oppurtunity. The few that I know their songs well, I then understand what I am looking for, and therefore am more likely to spot them. 

So here are the lists:

Warblers that spend the summer months in Northern Illinois:
Blue-winged Warbler, Yellow Warbler (Above), Chestnut-sided Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Black & White Warbler, American Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow-throated Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Hooded Warbler.

Warblers that I have seen and Identified:
Northern Illinois: Yellow, Pine, Black & White, Prothonotary, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, and Louisiana Waterthrush. (I commonly hear the Ovenbird in our local forests, but I have never been able to see one)
Other States: Yellow-breasted Chat (CA), Worm-eating (TN), Ovenbird (MX), Hooded (TN).

Warblers that I have not yet identified:
Blue-winged, Chestnut-sided, Cerulean, Prairie, Yellow-throated, Kentucky, and Mourning.

Yellow Warbler, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 5/8/2011.

This week will be "Warbler Week" on my blog, which I will highlight the warblers that I have been able to photograph. I'll start with the Yellow Warbler (Above) as it is by far the most common warbler that I encounter and am able to identify by both visual and song. It is also the most common of all warblers in the summer months. It is found from coast to coast in all of Canada, and in the more mountainous areas of the south and Mexico. It is not common in the southern coastal states of South carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In winter they will migrate south into Mexico, which is where I saw many last winter.

Yellow Warbler, Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve, Rockford, IL; 5/30/2011.

Since "Old Yeller" is the most common warbler; therefore, it is the most represented warbler of my photo files. (Below) are a few more photos of the Yellow Warbler:

A back lit Yellow Warbler, Rock Cut State Park; 5/8/2011.

A BIF Yellow Warbler, Rock Cut State park; 5/8/2011.

If it wasn't for the leaf obscuring this Yeller's head, this would have been one of my favorite BIF's, as it shows the transluscent quality of the warbler's wings, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/8/2011.

If this BIF would have been a bit sharper, this would be a great shot of the Yellow Warbler, Rock Cut State Park; 6/5/2011. 

Finally, to celebrate July 4th, I will end each post for the remainder of the summer with some of my favorite sunset/sunrise photos from the past several years from the many trips we have taken:


Nature's own fireworks, sunset from Bauman Park, Rockford, IL; 5/14/2010



Eastern Wood Peewee; May Migration to Northern Illinois

An Eastern Wood Peewee, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 9/4/10.

For years, while hiking through any thick wooded forest, I would hear the familiar high pitched long whistle on an upward beat - after a brief pause - followed by an equally long whistle on a downward beat - imagine a "wolf whistle' - a man whistling at a pretty girl. This is the song of the  Eastern Wood Peewee (Above) - a solitary neatral-colored flycatcher which stays high in the canopy of thick tree branches - so it is difficult to spot.  As I suppose with any gambling venture, sooner or later I would be in the right spot at the right time. That happened in mid July a year ago, while I was stalking an Indigo Bunting (my post two days ago), I heard the familiar Eastern Wood Peewee's whistle very close to me. And there it was (Below) on a low branch only about 100 feet from me - and stayed just long enough for me to fire off a few shutters before it flew up into the canopy out of sight.  A couple of months later I was able to get an even better photo op (Top) of this shy bird.

The shy Eastern Wood Peewee, Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve, Rockford, IL; 7/21/2010.

I started hearing Eastern Wood Peewees in mid May as they arrived in the Rockford area. As their name suggests, they are common only in the eastern half of the U.S. during summer - from the Atlantic coastal states from Georgia to Maine stretching west to the Dakotas in the north and to Oklahoma and Texas in the south.  Their grayish body makes them hard to spot in the thick foliage. They have a dark head like the Eastern Phoebe, with a very feint eye-ring. Their darker wings are separated with two very distinct white wing bars, and with most flycatchers, their bills are bi-colored, dark on the upper bill and orangish/yellow below.

Purple martins; May Migration to Northern Illinois



Mr. and Mrs. Grumpy Purple Martin on the front porch of their Martin House,
Horicon Marsh Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin; 5/29/2011.

According to Sibley's Field Guide to North American Birds, Purple Martins are common in much of the eastern half of the country, extending slightly north into Canada as well as slightly south into Mexico. They pretty much nest exclusively in man-made 'Martin houses," some of which can be found at the Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, up in Wisconsin. There are some Martin houses in Bauman Park in Cherry Valley (near Rockford, IL), but all I have ever seen in them are House Sparrows.

Purple Martins, which are a member of the swallow family, are fun to watch in their man-made colonies, as dozens of pairs of Martins noisily battle over which apartments they'll claim as their territory. They fly in and out of the little entry ways of the houses, and they sit on their little porches like an old couple watching and disapproving of the world. Their bills are somewhat turned down at the corners which give them the appearance of having perpetual scowls on their faces, as if they just got finished with a heated argument (Above).

White-eyed Vireo; May Migration to Northern Illinois

A White-eyed Vireo singing away on the tree tops,
Espenscheid Forest Preserve, Rockford, IL; 5/30/2011

As I was hiking from the Espenscheid Forest Preserve to Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve (the two preserves are connected by a trail that runs along the Kishwaukee River and passes under a bridge on Perryville Road), I heard an unfamiliar bird singing from the canopy.  It was pretty well hidden from my vantage point for quite some time, but patience won out, as it finally appeared for me to locate it in my viewfinder. Zooming in on it, I knew it was some sort of vireo, but I wasn't sure, and I didn't know its song. It was a song that wasn't on my recorded bird songs file. After taking a couple dozen photos and realizing that it wasn't going to move down closer to me, I moved on to my next conquest.  A couple of hours later, while on my return trip down that same section of trail, the same vireo was still singing away from high up in the tree tops, but it still wouldn't ingratiate me by posing on a more open branch in a closer proximity. I again moved on. Later in the day, I browsed through my images for the day, when I came across the 20-30 shots I took of this vireo. Most of them were “recycle bin worthy,” but 2 or 3 were worth keeping. After zooming in these pictures, I narrowed down my choices to the White-eyed or the Bell’s Vireo, but quickly realized that the vireo in question definitely had more evident wing bars that the Bell’s Vireo does not possess. So I logged onto http://whatbird.com/ to listen to the White-eyed Vireo’s song, and sure enough, that’s just what it was (Above).

The same White-eyed Vireo, Espenscheid Forest Preserve,
Rockford, IL; 5/30/2011



Northern Illinois is on the White-eyed Vireo’s very northern edge of its summer boundary, so I feel fortunate to have located one. Their summer territory is mainly the southeast quadrant of the U.S. extending across from Northern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, south along the Atlantic seaboard and to the Gulf of Mexico. In winter they will stay along the Gulf coast and into Mexico and Central America.

Many vireos and flycatchers look alike with gray / olive backs and heads and white or yellow undersides, but this Vireo’s identifying traits (other than its song) is that it looks like it’s wearing yellow “spectacles” and has a white iris (thus its name), and is the only vireo with these two traits together (Above).