Connecting the dots with a golden-winged warbler

Date:

April 8, 2015

Source:

Michigan Technological University

Summary:

For the first time, the same Golden-winged Warbler has been caught at both a migration hotspot and in his wintering grounds. Catching a warbler that someone else banded is "like a one in a million longshot," says the researcher who netted the bird in Nicaragua. "It's a needle in the haystack for sure, especially for this species." Connecting the dots between the breeding grounds, migration stop-overs and wintering grounds is important because Golden-winged warblers are sharply declining.

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Birds detect approaching storm from 900km away

Infrasound may have alerted warblers to the massive storm, prompting them to fly more than a thousand kilometres to avoid it

Ian Sample, science editor

Thursday 18 December 2014 17.00 GMT

A group of songbirds may have avoided a devastating storm by fleeing their US breeding grounds after detecting telltale infrasound waves.

Researchers noticed the behaviour after analysing trackers attached to the birds to study their migration patterns. They believe it is the first documented case of birds making detours to avoid destructive weather systems on the basis of infrasound.

The golden-winged warblers had just returned from South America to their breeding grounds in the mountains of Tennessee in 2013 when a massive storm was edging closer. Although the birds had just completed a migration of more than 2,500km, they still had the energy to evade the danger.

The storm, which spawned more than 80 tornadoes across the US and killed 35 people, was 900km away when the birds, apparently acting independently of one another, fled south, with one bird embarking on a 1,500km flight to Cuba before making the return trip once the storm had passed.

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Audubon sponsors study of endangered warbler

Written by Admin

One of the most prized bringers of spring song in Western North Carolina is the golden-winged warbler, and Highlands Plateau Audubon Society has awarded a grant to help increase human knowledge of these beautiful and endangered birds. 

Graduate student Jamie Harrelson, of Western Carolina University, will conduct a two-part study at sites in private and national forest land in Macon, Jackson, Haywood, Graham and Clay counties. The project will assess known and potential golden-winged warbler sites and look at how male aggression relates to population density and habitat quality. Her work will help fill in some holes about where this species can be found in this region, as well as in understanding critical aspects of their behavior as it relates to their surroundings. 

Research suggests that the majority of golden-wings nesting in North Carolina travel from their wintering grounds in the South American country of Colombia, typically returning to the same areas year after year to raise their young. 

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