Caution about BWWA, BBWA and BLWA songs

[Medea Steinman]

I wanted to alert folks who, like me, may not be expert auditory birders: it might be a good idea to visually confirm your black-and-white warblers before submitting such sightings to databases.  

On a recent walk at Hidden Ponds (below Tunk Mtn), I saw and heard a BWWA from the parking lot and then proceeded to count "lots" of BWWAs along the trail by ear.  After a while, a nagging voice got louder telling me that something seemed off. I thought one of these birds might be a bay-breasted warbler, which has a similar song.  I stalked a bird for a while and it turned out to be a blackburnian.  Soon afterward I confirmed a second blackburnian doing this particular song.  I'll try to attach the voice memo I recorded with my phone.  

I use the Sibley birding app on my phone, which does not include this version of the song.  Blackburnians definitely have squeaky songs but all the Sibley versions have a high-pitched rising note or rising "trillip" double note following the squeaky wheel phrase.  Perhaps I was just unable to hear those end-notes. Either way, it can lead to erroneous "sightings."

A friend has subsequently mentioned having the same experience so it seemed worth sending out a caution on this.  

[wre...@gmail.com]

Hi folks,

A couple follow-ups on this.

I've been hearing from others that this song is being frequently heard in Maine for Blackburnian.  Given that it is not included in Sibley, anyone have any thoughts on how specific it may be to our region?   

Also, apologies--I guess I messed up the alpha codes for Blackburnian and Black & White. I received a private message complaining about this and the way I was using the codes (don't use in the subject line and use better alpha code protocol in sentences).  I confess I did a quickie google search for those codes before sending my email and apparently I got incorrect info.  Can anyone share a good source for the alpha codes?  Please share to the whole group.

[Boots.]

I frequently use this list:

<https://www.birdpop.org/pages/birdSpeciesCodes.php>

This one was updated September 2020.

~Boots.

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[Boots.]

Further, here is a great site for learning the rules for the codes.

<https://www.lycobirds.com/articles/bird-alpha-codes>

~Boots.

[Brad Zitske]

Hi all,

I am a wildlife biologist with Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and studied Blackburnian warblers for my Master's research in New Brunswick, Canada in the early 2000s. The song type Medea has here is their song "B" which is often heard in proximity of territorial rivals. The song "A" is more commonly heard but both are common in Maine woods as well. I've found in my six years in NB, and subsequent past 12 years in Maine, that many warbler species can sound alike and often take on the characteristics of their congener (of same taxonomic genus of warbler) neighbors. Redstarts are particularly adept at mimicking Black-and-whites, Parulas, Chestnut-sideds, Yellows, and Blackburnians to name a few. This is a good cautionary tale to double check your records as we get into confirmed breeding seasons for the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas. 

Cheers,

Brad Zitske

On Sat, May 29, 2021 at 2:17 PM wre...@gmail.com <wre...@gmail.com> wrote:

[duch...@midmaine.com]

And a quick follow-up. Context is really helpful.

I'm visiting family in New Hampshire. This afternoon, I heard a song
across the street that was not quite like the typical Blackburnian. But it
was tiptop high in a hemlock - up where most squeaky warblers wouldn't go.
Even though the song was a little strange, I suspected Blackburnian right
away, and it was. Redstarts, chestnut-sideds, and yellows can all sing
rather strangely, but seldom from the top of a mature hemlock. Context and
behavior are wicked helpful clues.

Bob Duchesne

>>> trail *by ear*. After a while, a nagging voice got louder telling me

>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/7961eca8-5d2d-4abf-977c-a9b5b3e97780n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .

>>
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[Boots.]

This is a great bunch of information! Thank you so much. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/CABsTGLEAoa%2B0BnYXt5AE4zy1cRW%2BVUy2vQ2CNEeBKxdrX4N%2BjA%40mail.gmail.com.

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~Boots.

[wre...@gmail.com]

Thanks Brad.  Very interesting.

Not sure which song would be considered Song A.  Could you send along a recording?