“We birders experience a bit of an obsession with the Parulids every year, and the reasons are both…”
“We birders experience a bit of an obsession with the Parulids every year, and the reasons are both obvious and not. No warbler can compete with the haunting songs of any Catharus thrush. And while some may come close, none that I know in the ABA Area glows from within like a male Scarlet Tanager or Baltimore Oriole. The migrations of shorebirds are more impressive in pure distance. The Empid flycatchers challenge us more thoroughly. The hawks more dramatic in their numbers. But still it’s the warblers that capture us. That we travel to bird festivals specifically to see. That I have tallied so diligently for myself this spring. That truly make or break spring migration for so many birders, particularly in the eastern part of the continent. They’re beautiful, sure. Their migration is remarkable and despite the balance being mostly variations on yellow or brown, many are knock-your-socks-off beautiful. But mostly, there are just so many of them. I’m convinced that the obsession with this family above all this time of year comes from their amazing diversity. And birders, being nothing if not fervent collectors of experiences (for good or ill), are left helpless before the wave of birds.”
– Nate Swick, On Spring and the Warbler Obsession « ABA Blog (via dendroica)
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1isePp5.
Tags: Parulidae Junior High, pretty much.
