A Field Guide to the Birds and Birders of Magee

Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens)

In early spring, weather radars pick up dozens of mysterious “little blue donuts,” moving across north America.  These bizarre weather patterns aren't weather at all.  They are hundreds of thousands of migrating birds traveling in mass nocturnal flocks to their northern breeding grounds. 

Radar image of migrating birds.

The most famous Ohio migrants are the neotropical warblers.  Many of these small, insectivorous songbirds nest in the northern latitudes during the spring and summer.  Once fall sets in, their insect prey begins to die off and the birds head to Central and South America where food is abundant year round.  As photoperiod (day length) increases in spring, the warblers’ internal clocks tell them it’s time to move north.  There is less competition in the northern breeding grounds than in the tropics, and an abundance of untapped resources as insects begin to emerge.  This makes for ideal nesting habitat—the only trouble is, the breeding grounds and wintering grounds are thousands of miles apart.

Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)

Some species, like the Prothonotary Warbler, can travel some 5,000 miles in just three weeks. Warblers heading to Canada must cross Lake Erie in the process.  Before embarking on this arduous, long-distance flight, entire flocks drop down to the lakeshore to refuel, turning the forested wetlands along the Lake Erie Peninsula into a "Migrant Trap."  During the first weeks of May, Magee Marsh, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Howard Marsh, and Maumee Bay become some of the best locations in the state (and the country) to see a plethora of species in a very small area.  In their pre-migration gluttony, the birds display little fear of people.  They can get so close that telephoto lenses are often completely useless.

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Magee Marsh is Disney World for Wildlife Watchers.  It’s famous.  It’s crowded.  But, depending on who you ask, it just might be worth the hype.  I have visited the Magee boardwalk many times over the past few years, but never during the famed “Biggest Week in American Birding.”  I’ve always been a little too early or a little too late for the mass arrival of over twenty warbler species.  Each trip still brings loads of birds, unusual rarities, and a lifer or two, but I’ve always been curious about the Big Week.  On May 10th of this year, I headed up to Birder Mecca, braving the crowds for the promise of rare migrants.

Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina)

Magee is as much about the birds as it is about the bird watchers themselves.  This is ground zero for everyones’ binocular-clad grandparents and eccentric, RV-driving uncles.  Spend just five minutes at Magee and you’ll invariably encounter dozens of these indigenous boardwalk rarities.  Around the wooden path’s main entrance you might have to bob and weave between several mated pairs of Beige-legged Tickers, spectacled older-couples leafing through their field guides murmuring to one another about the “white eye-ring” they just saw as their partner jots down another species to the list.

Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)

A little bit further on and you’ll start encountering Three-legged Sit and Shoots.  These old-fogies gather in prime ambush locations, having lugged their enormous cameras on flimsy monopods through the crowd.  Any bird that startles them by jumping into the open will be met with a defensive clatter of snapping shutters to scare it back into the brush.  If the bird is particularly persistent, you can expect a Flashing Pacer to arrive and finish the job with a few shots from a mounted speed light.

Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)

Flocks of Bobbing Looker-ons whisper amongst one another, chattering to any unlucky newcomer about the bird that was last seen ten minutes ago.  The real rarities are usually located by the flock’s Sharp Spotters.  These energetic, audible field guides migrated to Magee years ago and never really left.  They have seen it all (or so they say) and are all too happy to lead fledgling Looker-ons to new lifers, for a small fee.

Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea)

I kid of course.  While there are a few birding practices I really do find distasteful (like those Flashing Pacers with their lights), I think it is inspiring and a bit humbling to see so many people captivated by this yearly, natural spectacle.  Magee is a place to meet fellow wildlife enthusiasts and reconnect with old friends.  In all my time pursuing wildlife, I’ve never experienced anything quite like it.

Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina)

On sunny mid-morning days during the Big Week, birds might be outnumbered ten to one by birders, but don't let that fool you about the shear abundance and variety that can be found here.  Like fish that occupy different water columns in an aquarium, there is a bird for every level of the swampy woodland.

Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)

Keep a close eye on the ground for little, brown birds with bobbing tails.  The Northern Waterthrush can be expected anywhere the ground is wet.  Despite its name and drab colors, this is in fact a warbler.  Another thrush-like ground-dweller, the Ovenbird, is a common species throughout much of the state.  Moving up into the understory shrubbery, you can expect to see foraging Black-throated Blue Warblers, Palm Warblers, and the occasional Wilson's Warbler.  Be sure to take a second look at any peculiarly patterned nuthatches—they might turn out to be Black-and-White Warblers creeping up the tree bark.  

Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)

At the mid-level range, a good day will bring Magnolia warblers, Cape-may warblers, Bay-breasted warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, American Redstarts, and Prothonotary Warblers.  Two of the most common warbler species often dominate this section of the forest: Yellow warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  The dense, shaded vegetation may harbor Hooded Warblers, or the rare Canada Warbler.  

Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)

You might have to strain your neck peering into the canopy to spot these warblers, but with any luck it'll be well worth it.  Foraging in the very tops of the trees are Northern Parulas, Tennessee Warblers, Nashville Warblers, and maybe even Cerulean Warblers.  My favorite of the bunch, the Blackburnian Warbler can be seen picking insects off the ends of branches right above the boardwalk.  

Extreme rarities occasionally turn up at Magee during the Big Week.  Saying the words Connecticut warbler, Mourning Warbler, or the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler on the Magee boardwalk is akin shouting fire in a crowded theater. 

Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca)

If you are just getting in to birding, then the shear number of similar-looking warbler species might be a bit daunting (it certainly was for me).  In that case, I’d recommend a spring trip to Magee even more.  There is no better way to learn your birds than getting out in the woods with a pair of binoculars.

And, if all else fails, just ask the birder next to you what he or she is looking at. 

Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)

More soon!

Keep living the field life

Ryan