Date: 8/4/26 12:53 pm From: Yaukey, Peter via groups.io <pyaukey...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Golden-cheeked Warb
AL Birders:
This is such an exciting sighting! Congrats to Franklin Chalk!
And its timing is beautiful: last summer there was discussion about shocking geolocator paper that claimed a substantial slice of the Goldencheek population, appeared to move east from central Texas on fall migration, traversing the northern Gulf states before turning south. This despite LA, MS, and AL apparently having no records (but Tampa having some, three I think).
There was some skepticism based on the difficulty of using solar cues (the basis for geolocator data in the paper) for determining latitude near the equinox when most GCWA migrate. Mr. Chalk's record finally provides a supporting record of this crazy idea.
I have pasted the discussion from the Louisiana listserve (LA Bird) below for those interested.
Peter Yaukey
LABirders:
I read a (to me) shocking geolocator paper yesterday that reported that many Golden-cheeked Warblers travel far east from their nesting areas before turning south in fall, many apparently traversing Louisiana. The paper states that 20% of the birds in the study sample migrated across the Gulf in fall, including some going as far east as peninsular Florida. Here are the tracks of the c. 12 (of their total of 61 migrants tracked w geolocators) that went transgulf or through Florida.
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They had another map that gives stopover points. One of these is on the Chandeleurs. Has the LBRC considered whether a geolocator observation could constitute a first state record? The lead authors of the study are actually at LSU- perhaps they could provide information on the amount of precision in that stopover observation or the flyover tracks?
This is crazy!
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[cid:25a18524-ab35-4de1-b9af-eda207161405]
Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D.
Departmental Chair and Professor of Biology
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
University of Holy Cross
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
504-398-2312 Direct
504-394-7744 Main
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From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> on behalf of Lawrence Gardella via groups.io <lfgardella...>
Sent: Monday, August 3, 2026 9:59 PM
To: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...>
Subject: [ALbirds] Golden-cheeked Warb
You don't often get email from <lfgardella...> Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification> As ma y of you all have heard, Franklin Chalk found a Golden-cheeked Warbler at Fort Morgan this morning, and the bird wss positively identified this afternoon on the basis of the great photographs Franklin took.
Several of us dropped everything and made it down to Ft. Morgan. The bird spent a lot of time in a tree just down the main path in the stables area from the Sargebt bench. A cedar?
I thank the people who were looking at it when I arrived, those who made the ID, and Franklin.
