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| Susan Sterne, of Portland, Oregon, first observed a female Black-throated Blue Warbler (which, unlike the male, is neither black nor blue) at her feeder on January 7, 2005. She estimated that 30-50 birders stopped by to view the warbler after her initial sighting. |
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| Photo by Susan Sterne |
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As of mid-February the bird was still visiting her feeders. Susan reported that the warbler was feeding from a hummingbird feeder as well as a suet feeder. During
warmer weather, the warbler has also been seen catching
insects. |
| Photo by Bruce Craig |
| Black-throated Blue Warblers normally winter in the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and on the Caribbean coast from the Yucatan Peninsula to Honduras. Even in the summer,
seeing this species in Oregon would be special. As this range map shows, Black-throated
Blue Warblers breed from southwestern Ontario and
northeastern Minnesota eastward to Nova Scotia, southward
through New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, and
in the Appalachians south to Georgia. |
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Reflecting on her experience hosting a rare bird, Susan wrote, "It's pretty weird and exciting to have such a displaced bird in my yard. I've been feeding and identifying birds for a few years... This bird was the first one I couldn't identify to my satisfaction in that time, and, wow, it actually turned out to be rare here. Pretty crazy. Not what I expected." |
| Photo by Bruce Craig |
Learn
more about Black-throated
Blue Warblers on the All About Birds web site.
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