Date: 8/22/25 1:11 pm From: Tom Leskiw via groups.io <tomleskiw...> Subject: [NWCALBIRD] some thoughts on Warbling Vireo split
Birders,
Now that Warbling Vireo has been split into two species, I suspect we will
be paying a bit more attention to it/them. This split got me to pondering
how often Warbling Vireo is known to sing during fall migration. Because the
breeding bird confirmation hierarchy info collected via eBird generally
pertains to the breeding season, that platform seemed a poor choice for
info. Dr Stanley Harris's "SWH Northcoast Data Base 1959-" [about 2017]
proved to be a good source of information. Although the records he collated
for WAVI dated back to 1899 (Doc was nothing if not thorough, gleaning info
from various ornithological journals), the majority of records he collected
began in 1959, with 2017 being the final entry (as he began to defer to
eBird).
His records of WAVI singing during the months of August and September total
eight. Clearly, many more WAVI likely sang in Humboldt during this time
frame, as many observers were not relaying to Doc whether or not the bird(s)
were singing.
On 1 August 2000 I had a singing WAVI at the Six Rivers National Forest
Supervisor's Office in Eureka (Mauer Marsh, just west of the parking lot;
near present-day eBird hotspot Bayshore Mall Willows & Pond). The subject
bird (that I never saw) seemed a good candidate for the Eastern subspecies,
owing to its less burry, more musical song. I was on break from work and
unable to spend much time with the bird. But during the time I spent with
it, the cadence seemed different from (Western) Warbling Vireo, but I
couldn't put my finger on just how. I reported the sighting to Doc and
whatever particular platform we were using at the time. Unfortunately, my
recording equipment was 20 miles away at my house in Westhaven/Trinidad, so
the song was never recorded.
Here's hoping that we keep our Smartphones charged up this fall and the
birding community gets to see and hear the freshly minted Vireo gilvus.
