National Geographic Magazine/Volume 31/Number 4/Friends of Our Forests/Connecticut Warbler

Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis)


Range: Breeds in Canadian Zone from Manitoba to central Minnesota and northern Michigan; winters in South America, probably in Colombia and Brazil.

Discovered by Wilson in Connecticut early in the last century, the Connecticut warbler remained almost unknown for many years until, September 7, 1870, I found it numerous in the fresh pond swamps of Cambridge. The bird thus rediscovered rapidly came into the limelight, and there are few eastern observers of the present day who are not tolerably familiar with the appearance and habits of this warbler. In fall it is common throughout eastern United States in low, swampy thickets. It habitually feeds on the ground, and is so silent and shy as easily to escape the notice even of one on the lookout for it, especially as its single chirp of alarm is infrequently uttered. In fact, the only way to be sure that one or more Connecticut warblers are not concealed in the shrubbery of a suspected locality is to beat over it systematically, not once, but many times.

When started, the warbler flies noiselessly to the nearest shaded perch, and there sits motionless, watching the intruder, till it decides either to renew its interrupted search for food or to seek some distant place, far from the danger of intrusion. Under such circumstances its motions are highly suggestive of the staid and quiet thrushes, and in no respect similar to the sprightly warblers. The Connecticut is one of the few species that for some reason choose distinct routes of migration, as in spring it passes up the Mississippi Valley instead of through the Atlantic Coast States, which form its southern route in fall. The bird is known to breed in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Manitoba, and elsewhere in the north. The only nest so far found, however, appears to be one discovered by Seton in Manitoba. As was to be expected, it was on the ground.

Source: Henry W. Henshaw (April 1917), “Friends of Our Forests”, The National Geographic Magazine 31(4): 321. (Illustration from p. 320.)