Material Information

Title:
With the Wild Things: Warblers
Creator:
Dr. Jerry Jackson
Place of Publication:
Ft. Myers, Florida
Publisher:
Whitaker Center in the College of Arts and Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University
Language:
English
Physical Description:
5 podcasts, approximately 1 minute each in length

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Songbirds
Warblers, New World

Notes

Scope and Content:
Source: Warblers 1 Length of Segment: 00:01:10 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Among Florida's birds of winter is a tiny warbler that some birders affectionately call 'butterbutt', the yellow-rumped warbler. Although it measures only about four-and-three-quarter inches from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail, the yellow-rumped warbler spans our continent on its annual migrations. The yellow rump nests in the spruce fir forests of Canada and Alaska, but winters in much of the eastern United States, the American southwest, and down into Mexico. It’s abundant as a wintering bird in Florida. While most wood warblers rely on a pretty strict diet of insects and spiders, and thus have to head to the tropics in winter, the yellow-rumped warbler can shift its diet to berries if the weather is too cold for insects. In Florida, it often feeds on the waxy berries of wax myrtle from which it got an earlier name, 'myrtle warbler'. You can identify the yellow-rumped warbler by its tiny size, its gray back, and the bright yellow patch at the base of its tail. Males are much brighter than females. A close look also shows the yellow-rumped warbler has a yellow cap, and yellow on each side of its breast. ( English )
Scope and Content:
Source: Warblers 2 Length of Segment: 00:01:15 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Identifying a yellow-rumped warbler is easy. This tiny bird is so distinctive with its thin pointed bill, gray back, and bright yellow rump. Once you've identified several yellow-rumped warblers, however, you'll begin to notice that aside from the basics, they vary greatly in color and pattern from one individual to the next. Those differences allow us and them to identify young birds, males and females, and birds from different nesting areas. When yellow rump warblers arrive in the south each fall, many are dull, gray-brown with gray-brown streaks on the breast, and only the tell-tale yellow rump betray their identity. These are the yellow-rumped kids, hatched in the spring and making their first trip south. Adult females are a bit brighter with less brown and more gray, and with thin lines of black extending down the back and on the sides of the breast. Adult males in spring offer the brightest of plumages; their bright-yellow rump is balanced by a bright-yellow cap and yellow at the edges of the breast, and all that yellow is accented by strong black streaks on the blue-gray back, and a black vest on the whitish breast and a black face mask. Such variation adds to the excitement and the lure of watching birds. ( English )
Scope and Content:
Source: Warblers 3 Length of Segment: 00:01:10 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Have you seen a little olive bird with a thin pointed bill, bright yellow under its tail, a rusty cap, thin yellow eyebrow, and a long tail that pumps up and down as if keeping time to music? Forget the rest, just watch for that tail pumping up and down. In mid-winter in Florida, what you're likely seeing is a palm warbler. Maybe it was on your sidewalk, or in the mowed grass, or perched on a shrub just outside your window. Palm warblers can be abundant in Florida's manicured landscapes as they search for tiny insects and occasionally berries and seeds to satisfy a seemingly insatiable appetite. Small flocks often spread out across the lawn with individuals spaced six to ten feet apart. They're just visitors to Florida, real snow birds. Palm warblers nest across Canada in sphagnum bogs and spruce trees. Just as people arrive in Florida from throughout the north country each winter, so do palm warblers. If you haven't seen it yet, take a closer look at the world around you. That tail-pumping palm warbler is hard to miss. ( English )
Scope and Content:
Source: Warblers 4 Length of Segment: 00:01:12 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The wood warblers are tiny birds that are unique to the Americas. They're sometimes referred to as “the butterflies of the bird world” because of their bright colors and the diversity of patterns that they show. About 40 kinds of wood warblers are known from Florida. Most pass through on migration from the tropics each spring to nest in more northern areas of North America, and then pass through again in fall. A few make Florida their winter home. Palm warblers arrive in Florida as early as September and may stay as late as early May. As spring approaches, the yellow of the breast and feathers under the tail become brighter as they grow new plumage for breeding. As a result, they attract more attention, both from prospective mates and from us. We don't often see them in large flocks, but you might find half a dozen or more palm warblers looking for insects in a loose group scattered across your lawn. Palm warblers migrate at night, saving their days for feeding. With the warm southern breezes of spring, usually around the end of April, palm warblers disappear overnight as flocks begin their northward journey. ( English )
Scope and Content:
Source: Warblers 5 Length of Segment: 00:01:02 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. If you happen to be walking near a wet, tall grass area, you might get a glimpse of a tiny olive bird with a yellow breast, slender bill, and distinctive black mask. This is one of our best-known wintering wood warblers: the common yellow throat. Common yellow throats feed on and near the ground, but males pop up occasionally to perch on a tall weed to sing, or may flush from cover as a human walks close. The yellow throat is a connoisseur of tiny insects, spiders, and snails, and is rarely seen more than about three feet off the ground and usually near water. Only males have the black mask, and the non-descript olive-colored females are sometimes difficult to identify. While migrant common yellow throats are abundant in Florida in winter, some are residents that remain to nest in Florida. Males are often heard in spring and their voices are loud and easily recognized: 'whichity, whichity, whichity'. ( English )

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