IDENTIFICATION OF WARBLERS
In order to identify warblers, most people need to group them in some way. The following grouping of my own has helped me to recognize and remember the more common species:
I The Ground Warblers
1 The Ovenbird
2 The Water Thrushes
3 The Worm-eating Warbler
4 The Palm Warblers
II Black and White Warblers
1 The Black and White Creeping Warbler
2 The Black-poll Warbler
III Black, White, and Yellow Warblers
1 The Myrtle or Yellow-rumped Warbler
2 The Magnolia Warbler
IV Black and Orange Warblers
1 The Redstart
2 The Blackburnian Warbler
V Warblers With Yellow or Olive-green Predominating
1 The Yellow Warbler
2 The Pine Warbler
3 The Maryland Yellow-throat
4 The Hooded Warbler
5 Wilson’s Warbler
6 The Black-throated Green Warbler
7 The Canadian Warbler
8 The Yellow-breasted Chat
9 The Yellow Palm Warbler
VI Warblers With Blue or Blue and Yellow Predominating
1 The Cerulean Warbler
2 The Black-throated Blue Warbler
3 The Blue-winged Warbler
4 The Golden-winged Warbler
5 The Parula Warbler
VII Warblers With Reddish-brown Markings
1 The Bay-breasted Warbler
2 The Chestnut-sided Warbler
GROUP ONE—THE GROUND WARBLERS
1. THE OVEN-BIRD
Length: A little over 6 inches.
Male and Female: Olive-brown above; head with a golden-brown crown, bordered with two black lines that extend from bill to neck; under parts white; a brown streak at each side of the throat; breast and sides heavily streaked with black; no bars on wings, or patches on tail.
Note: Mr. Forbush interprets the oven-bird’s note as “chick,′ KERCHICK,′ KERCHICK,′ repeating the phrase an indefinite number of times.”[138] John Burroughs has rendered it as, “teacher, teacher, teacher, TEACHER, TEACHER.” The bird is frequently spoken of as the “Teacher-bird.”
Song: A “flight song” which Mr. Forbush describes as follows: “When I lingered in the woods at evening until the stars came out, I heard a burst of melody far above the treetops, and saw the little singer rising against the western sky, simulating the Skylark, and pouring forth its melody, not to the orb of day but to the slowly rising moon; then, when the melody came nearer, the exhausted singer fell from out the sky and shot swiftly downward, alighting at my very feet.”[138]
Habitat: Woodlands, where the oven-bird spends much of its time on the ground.
Range: North America. Breeds in the forests of Canada and the United States to Kansas, southern Missouri, Ohio Valley, Virginia, and in the mountains of Georgia and South Carolina; winters from central Florida to Colombia.
This shy forest-dweller is little seen except by the tireless haunter of woods. I well remember my first quest for the owner of a voice that seemed to proceed from every part of the small grove I was searching. His ventriloquistic power led me on until I was about to give up in weariness and discouragement, when suddenly I came upon this golden-crowned warbler that had made the woods ring. He seemed very small for so loud a vocalization.
Another day, quite by accident, I discovered his oven-shaped nest:
“Arched and framed with last year’s oak-leaves,
Roofed and walled against the raindrops.”[139]
Since that time I have had numerous views of oven-birds. One in particular, seemed quite unafraid; and several times approached within a few feet of where I was seated.