Spring, spring, spring is here ... warblers' announcement!

For those who respect and admire nature and feel passion for being in contact with it, there is a special time called Spring!  Further, if you consider yourself one of those guys who spend hours in the forests, wetlands, prairies, and urban areas looking for those charismatic organisms with brightly colored plumages and unique regal songs called birds, then Spring has an extra-especial meaning for you.  It is amazing and well-recognized the change that our ecosystems, e.g., forests and lakes, have from season to season, but particularly from Winter to Spring.

For a bird watcher, the onset of Spring means not only the gradually increasing rise in temperature and sunny hours, but to appreciate the amazing ecological process of bird migration.  Yes! Spring, Spring, Spring time is here and that means that millions of birds will be returning to northern latitudes (e.g., Ohio) after spending from 6 to 8 months traveling and/or wintering in more friendly environments in the tropics (e.g., Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and/or South America).  During the next two months countless number of birds will be either temporarily stopping by or staying in habitats of Ohio for the breeding season.  But, instead of spending time in explaining the incredible process of bird reproduction or migration, today I want to point out a simple ecological fact that is sheer illustrative for birders of the Spring arrival.

During the past two weeks there have been returning some birds such as ducks, geese, shorebirds, cranes, hawks, egrets, kingfishers, swallows, swifts, and blackbirds which undoubtedly announce that Spring is here.  From all birds, there is a special group of small (4.5 to 7.5 inches long), light (7 to 25 gr in weight) diverse (37 species occur with regularity in Ohio), colorful (mostly yellow, but combined with a diverse hues of white, black, blue, green, red, and/or gray) migratory birds that unmistakably signal the Spring onset to birders: warblers or wood warblers. 

 These birds belong to the family Parulidae that is native to the American Continent, has 116 species, and are iconic signals for birders that it’s time to be efficient in everything you do to go out and spend time at your favorite birding spots to witness the arrival of these mostly insectivorous yellow song birds. 

 Warblers are nor the first migratory birds coming back to Oxford or Ohio (e.g., ducks), nor are the most conspicuous birds in the forest (e.g., raptors), but they do arrive irrespective of the forest have completely leaved out or is lushly green to start setting up territories for the forthcoming breeding season. 

Next time that you go out to the field, your garden, park, school, Zoo, or walking down street, pay attention to bird songs or bird movements in the vegetation and see if you can detect a small yellowish bird that looks like a “warbler”.  Even more and just out of curiosity, if you are in the field and see a group of people holding binoculars and observing to some vague spot in the woods, ask them about if they have seen any warbler.  You will be amazed and intrigued by their answers, try it out!

  It is fascinating how some small birds can systematically announce the onset of a new season and a Spring day!

Note: Warblers' pictures were taken from internet (the Cornell Lab of Ornithology)