Dr. Winsor M. Tyler contributes the following: “The orange-crowned warbler is a rare bird in New England, but we may look for it with some hope of success in the very late autumn, through November and even into December, during the soft, calm days of Indian Summer. As we walk along over the dead leaves, wet from last night’s frost, watching for the bird in the shrubs by the roadside and in neglected pastures, almost the only sound is the ticking of the falling leaves as they hit against the branches; and mistiness is all about us. Several seasons may pass before we hear its sharp chip, which stands out clearly from the gentle voice of the late-lingering myrtle warblers, and see it flitting all alone among the twigs, or on the ground—a lonely, dark, obscure little bird, darker and more deliberate than the kinglets. It is strange that a Vermivora should linger here with winter so near at hand, but indeed there is evidence which leads us to believe that a few of these warblers may attempt to spend the winter in the southern part of this region, and should any one of them withstand the cold season, it may furnish, when it moves northwards towards its breeding ground, one of the exceedingly rare instances of the occurrence of the bird on the northern Atlantic coast in spring.”
Winter.—The principal winter home of the orange-crowned warbler seems to be in the southern Atlantic and Gulf States. Of its occurrence in coastal South Carolina, Arthur T. Wayne (1910) writes:
My earliest date for its arrival is October 30, 1897, but it is never abundant until the middle of November, remaining until the second week in April. It is capable of enduring intense cold. I have seen numbers of these highly interesting birds near Charleston when the thermometer ranged as low as 8° above zero and it is always more active and hence oftener seen when the weather is cold and cloudy.
The Orange-crowned Warbler inhabits thickets of lavender and myrtle bushes as well as oak scrub, and its center of abundance is on the coast islands, the greater part of which is veritable jungle, in which it particularly delights. Its only note while it sojourns here is a chip or cheep which very closely resembles the note of the Field Sparrow in winter.
Dr. Chapman (1907) says: “During the winter I have found the Orange-crowned Warbler a not uncommon inhabitant of the live-oaks in middle Florida where its sharp chip soon becomes recognizable. In Mississippi, at this season, Allison (MS.) says that ‘its favorite haunts are usually wooded yards or parks, where the evergreen live oak and magnolia can be found; I have seen it most commonly among the small trees on the border of rich mixed woods, above an undergrowth of switch cane. Coniferous trees it seems not to care for, though I have seen it in the cypress swamps.'”
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—From Alaska and northern Canada to Guatemala.
Breeding range.—The orange-crowned warbler breeds north to north-central Alaska (Kobuk River and Fort Yukon; a specimen has been collected near Point Barrow); northern and western Mackenzie (Fort McPherson, Fort Anderson, Lake Hardisty, and Hill Island Lake); northern Saskatchewan (near Sand Point, Lake Athabaska); northeastern Manitoba (Churchill and York Factory); and casually to northwestern Quebec (Richmond Gulf). East to eastern and southern Manitoba (York Factory, Winnipeg, and Aweme); southwestern Saskatchewan (East End and the Cypress Hills); southeastern Alberta (Medicine Hat); western Montana (Great Falls, Belt, and Bozeman); northwestern and southeastern Wyoming (Yellowstone Park and Laramie); central Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Wet Mountains, and Fort Garland); central New Mexico (Taos Mountains and Willis); and southwestern Texas (Guadalupe Mountains). South to southwestern Texas (Guadalupe Mountains); south-central New Mexico (Capitan Mountains); southeastern and northwestern Arizona (Tucson, Santa Catalina Mountains, and north rim of the Grand Canyon); southern Nevada (St. Thomas); and southern California (Panamint Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, Coronado Beach, and San Clemente Island). West to the Pacific coast of California (San Clemente and Santa Rosa Islands, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Eureka); Oregon (Coos Bay and Tillamook); Washington (Cape Disappointment, Stevens Prairie, and Neah Bay); British Columbia (Nootka Sound and the Queen Charlotte Islands); and Alaska (Sitka, Yakutat, Nushegak, Igiak Bay, St. Michael, and the Kobuk River).
The orange-crowned warbler has been recorded in migration in southern Quebec as far east as Metamek and may occasionally breed. There is a single breeding record for Minnesota at Cambridge.
Winter range.—The orange-crowned warbler winters north to northwestern Washington (Seattle); central California (Marysville, Bigtrees, Atwater, and Victorville); southern Nevada (near Searchlight); central and southeastern Arizona (Fort Verde, Phoenix, and Tucson); southern Texas (El Paso, Fort Clark, and Boerne); Louisiana (Monroe); rarely Tennessee (Memphis); central Georgia (Macon and Augusta); and southern South Carolina (Charleston). It has also occurred occasionally in winter as far north as Madison, Wis.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Canandaigua, N. Y.; and Boston, Mass. East to South Carolina (Charleston); Georgia (Savannah); and Florida (Jacksonville, Coconut Grove, and Royal Palm Hammock). South to southern Florida (Royal Palm Hammock); the Gulf coast of Florida (Ozona, Wakulla Beach, and Pensacola); Mississippi (Biloxi); Louisiana (New Orleans); Texas (Rockport, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville); Tamaulipas (Altamira); Veracruz (Orizaba); and Guatemala (Chimuy and Tecpán). West to western Guatemala (Tecpán and Nenton); Guerrero (Chilpancingo and Coyuca); Colima (Manzillo); Jalisco (Mazatlán); Baja California (Cape San Lucas and Santa Margarita Island); the Pacific coast of California (San Clemente and Santa Cruz Islands, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Eureka); western Oregon (Eugene); and northwestern Washington (Tacoma and Seattle).