About This Course

The spring season can be a busy time for birding, it’s migration time and it offers the opportunity to see birds we do not normally see in the area. In addition, many warbler species may stay to nest (depending on your location).

Identifying warblers can be a challenge due to the fact you may only get a glimpse of them as they move quickly to feed on bugs in the branches. In addition the female plumage (feathers) of some species are not the bright colors of the males and can be rather drab. None the less, there are field markings to look for and this course will point those out.

On the subject of plumage - The bright colors (breeding plumage) seen in the males of some species of warblers is due to a late winter molt (feather replacement). There are some other species that do not go through a molt during this time but yet their colors are still more pronounced in the spring due to the wear of certain feathers which reveal the more vibrant feathers below. There are other species in which the appearance does not change with the season. The lessons will address the plumage for each species covered.

There are a number of excellent resources for learning how to identify warblers, I have included some in the Other Resources list below. I decided to develop this course as a companion to my course “Warbler Identification - Fall”. As in that course I am addressing the warblers for a particular season only.

The list of species in this course is by no means a complete list of wood warblers. Most of these pictures were taken during the spring/summer months in the Midwest & Eastern North America. I am limited by my catalog of pictures taken during this season and try to include both male and female - that narrows the list to 18 warbler species, a good number to start with. I may increase this number as my catalog grows. There are a couple of pictures I took during the fall season (noted) but the bird will have the same markings during the spring.

There is a practice exercise at the end which will give you an opportunity to apply the lessons learned.

Warblers are busy birds as they feed - they move throughout the branches and typically they are high up in the canopy - you may only see the underside of the bird. Warblers most often have a very distinct undertail pattern, therefore it is helpful to know what that pattern is. I have included undertail artwork from The Warbler Guide Visual Finders which are free from www.thewarblerguide.com . These are included in The Warbler Guide (book & app), which I list in the Other References below. I highly recommend the book and app.