Warbler Roundup

June 10, 2022

Spring migration deserves some extra posts. While the summer birds nest I try to catch up with the spring photos!

One of the joys of spring migration in Kansas City is looking for all the warblers passing through. Warblers are small, sometimes brightly colored songbirds that mostly eat bugs and like to hang out high in the trees where the budding leaves and bugs are to be found this time of year. There are dozens of warblers that pass can pass through during migration and a couple that stick around for summer.

I hope to see them in the spring when they are singing and the leaves are not as thick because finding them in the fall is tough!

I took a number of long walks looking up in the trees, hoping to catch a glance before the leaves make it too hard to find them. In the spring when they are singing you have a better chance than in the fall. I didn’t find as many this year as some years, I think they must have gone through on the rainy days, but here are a few of my favorites:

Male black and white warbler

After seeing lots of male black and white warblers, I finally saw a female!

Orange-crowned warbler

Male American redstart

Male Wilson’s warbler

Probably a female Wilson’s warbler – females are so difficult to identify!

Palm warbler

Yellow warbler, one of the few who stick around for summer

Northern parula, also a summer resident. I hear them far more often than I see them!

Nashville warbler in it’s normal, upside-down position

Not to be forgotten, the pretty yellow-rumped warblers who were here all winter but changed into their courting clothes just before leaving to go north.

Hope you enjoyed this extra post! I send out extra photo posts each week to the paid subscribers as well and if you subscribe (even for a month!) you can see all of the past posts on my newsletter home page.

Hope your weekend has moments of joy and magic!