Date: 10/5/24 9:26 am From: Pete Sole <pete...> Subject: [MBBIRDS] Wintering Visitors
Hi birders,
For me, one of the ways to tell the seasons, is the migration movements
of birds in my neighborhood.
In spring and early summer, the arrival of Black-headed Grosbeaks,
Violette-green Swallows, Western Flycatchers, Allen's Hummingbirds, and
Hooded Orioles, "announce" our breeding season.
In the fall and winter, it is the sounds and views of TOWNSEND'S
WARBLERs, HERMIT THRUSHes, and GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWs, that "confirm",
that the bird wintering season is here. In the last few weeks, I've seen
and heard all 3 species in our yard. I expect to hear and see them for
about 6 months. Come late April of next year, they should be pretty much
gone.
Interestingly, the Golden Crowned Sparrows and Townsend's Warblers may
be longer distance migrants than Hermit Thrushes. Golden-crowned
Sparrows breed primarily in Alaska, the Yukon in Canada, and surrounding
areas. Townsend's Warblers have some breeding overlap with
Golden-crowned Sparrows, but the breeding range extends a little further
south, and not as far north. Hermit Thrushes are reported to breed
across southern Alaska, across Canada to the eastern sea board, the
entire Rocky Mountain range, and even locally in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Here on the coast, about 1 mile from the ocean as the bird flies, I'm
enjoying the plaintive "Ohhh poor meee" song of the Golden-crowned
Sparrows, the "chump chump chump" calls of the Hermit Thrushes, and the
short metallic "chip" of the Townsend's Warblers, as they make their
morning rounds through our yard for the wintering season.
