Locate Connecticut Warbler Using eBird Maps

In ‘On the Move’, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where birds of interest are at different times of the year. We featured the Connecticut Warbler, pictured above, in our May/June 2019 issue.

Maps from eBird show where the Connecticut Warbler was spotted in January (left) and June

Named by Alexander Wilson after an individual collected during fall migration in its namesake state, the Connecticut Warbler is not common there, breeding instead (in June) over a wide swath of the Canadian boreal forest and in the southern extensions of northern Minnesota boreal habitat. Wisconsin and Michigan. Pairs nest in isolated spruce and tamarack bogs, places that are difficult to access and often infested with mosquitoes, so they are still poorly known to this day. Outside the breeding season, the Connecticut Warbler is mainly found along the western edge of the Amazon Basin, where it is extremely poorly known (see January eBird map for last 10 years). In spring, listen for the male’s distinctive, resounding song, a two- or three-part repetition of phrases. The species is shy and stealthy, much more often heard than seen, but careful observers may spot a compact short-tailed warbler with a bold, full eyering.

SView eBird’s real-time range map for the Connecticut Warbler.

A version of this article appeared in “Birding Briefs” in the May/June 2019 issue of BirdWatching.