Identifying Warblers

Continuing to share my warbler photos along with information about each species, from my latest book: "Warblers of Arizona, A Guide to Finding and Photographing Warblers in Southern Arizona." 

If you are interested in purchasing it, please email me at exclusivelywildlifephotos.com or info@azuregate.com.

About Identifying Warblers

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Compared to sparrows and the small flycatchers, identifying warblers is relatively easy -- provided you get a reasonable length of time with a good "look." Of course getting that good look is not always easy, and many times a warbler will be seen and gone much too quickly to identify it. Patience (with a little luck) is the key.

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As a general rule warblers have more color than sparrows and flycatchers; often yellow. The way they move about is helpful in differentiating warblers from other birds. And the warbler "song" is often a clue. But how to distinguish each individual warbler?

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Location is an importnt tool for identifying warblers. High up in Ponderosa Pines above 7,000 feet it's more likely to be an Olive or Grace's. The corollary to that is that you won't find an Olive or Grace's on the ground or rummaging around in low vegetation. On the other hand, both the Louisiana and Northern Waterthrush will nearly always be on or close to the ground in or around streams. A Black and White Warbler will typically be on the trunk or main branch of an old tree. So learning each warbler's preferred habitat is an important part of identifying them.

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Another good way is to learn the body parts. The llustration on the opposite page shows the key identifying parts of a warbler. Missing from the illustration are tertials, primaries, secondaries, coverts, mantle, and shoulder. I have found that you can make a positive identification without studying those additional pieces. So for simplicity sake, I have left them off the illustration.

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To identify a warbler, ask: What are the colors of the face? Is there an eyering, eye arc, or eyeline? Are there wing bars? Are there streaks on the flanks? A less obvious reference is the degree to which there is contrast between the back/wings and the breast/belly. For example, the Nashville, Virginia's, and Lucy's are very similar. Lucy's has a very low contrast while the Nashville contrast is higher. Virginia's is inbetween. Lucy's has no yellow while the Nashville's throat, breast, belly, and vent are yellow or yellowish. Virginia's breast and vent are yellow (or yellowish) but the throat is more white and the belly is more gray.

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Once you find and identify a particular warbler it will be much easier the second, third, and fourth time because you'll know where and what to look for.