A note about Bay-breasted Warbler (BBWA) in spring in the Piedmont.
I noticed that there were “a lot” of reports of BBWA in the Triangle this spring. Having lived here for a long time, it seemed unusual. So I checked eBird and saw that yes, there have been ~16 reports (some of the same bird(s)) of BBWA this spring in the Triangle.
Most BBWA follow a more western northbound route in the spring, and the bird is admittedly not at all common here in spring (fall is different).
I’ve also noticed that Merlin seems to “like” BBWA and tends to “record” it when it might not be present. Sort of like the whole Worm-eating Warbler/Chipping Sparrow thing. But I am not quite sure what the “match” song
is that it is keying on. Last year when I noticed this up in the VA mountains I thought it might be confusing it with part of the Cerulean Song ,but that is clearly not the case here. But I’ve seen it pop up enough to realize it’s in error (and folks who have it pop up on Merlin should probably proof it either by hearing the song themselves and agreeing Merlin is correct, or see the bird.)
I went back and checked eBird for 2010 and 2015 to compare (5 springs versus 1, mostly pre-Merlin, granted fewer eBird users). There were a total of 5 (3 individual birds) spring reports of BBWA during that 6-year period and four of those years had no reports at all.
Now BBWA is a cyclical breeder and numbers can fluctuate quite a bit. Plus more people use eBird now. But there have always been a lot of really good birders in the Triangle, and many of them have updated eBird with their records, so I think the point is fair, although you can argue the adoption of eBird as a factor.
My real statement here is that BBWA is a very uncommon spring warbler (I’ve never seen one in the spring here) and seems to have a) either had a banner year, which is noteworthy in itself, or b) Merlin is being Merlin 😊
This is NOT to say that folks misidentified BBWA this spring (and no one needs to call me to tell me they saw theirs, I trust you!) but I think it’s also good know which songs Merlin tends to err on, and this appears to be one.
