Olive-capped Warbler (resident species), Abaco Bahamas (©Tom Sheley)

ABACO’S 38 WARBLERS: AN ILLUSTRATED ID GUIDE (Pt 1)

IT’S STARTED The great winter migration of warblers and their imminent arrival in The Bahamas is underway. Any day now – if not already – the ‘winter’ / ‘Fall’ (late summer & early spring as well) warblers will be arriving on Abaco. There are 38 warbler species recorded for the main island and the cays. For years, it was just 37. Exactly a year ago, a CANADA WARBLER was seen and photographed by well-known birder Chris Johnson. It was a first for Abaco – and the first-ever report for the Bahamas as well. You’ll find the story HERE.

First-ever Canada Warbler for Abaco & the entire Bahamas: Aug 2018 (Chris Johnson)

Canada Warbler, Abaco Bahamas (1st record) (Chris Johnson)

This post is the first of 3 warbler posts for the Fall. A while back I compiled a basic (in retrospect) guide to Abaco’s warbler species. I’ll give a link and pdf in due course once I have rechecked (improved? rewritten?) it. [Note: of no value on eBay, @m@z@n or anywhere else]. Many of the warblers are far from easy to distinguish from each other. For example, many males have yellow or yellow-and-black plumage. The females are invariably less colourful – often brownish or olive – than the males (as are juveniles), and that can lead to confusion – and not only by me, I think.

Hooded Warbler, Abaco Bahamas (Chris Johnson)

The guide divides the original 37 species into categories, with a code for each bird to show. You’ll see below the codes relating to each of the 5 resident species:

• Resident status – permanent / breeding, migratory or transient
• Frequency – likelihood of seeing each species in its season, rated from 1 (very likely) to 5 (extreme rarities, maybe recorded once or twice since c1950

Bahama Warbler (endemic), Abaco Bahamas (Alex Hughes)

Numerically, the division of the 38 breaks down into 3 categories:

• 5 permanent residents (PR) that breed on Abaco (B), of which two are ENDEMIC
• 21 winter residents (WR) ranging from ‘everyday’ species to rarities like the rare, vulnerable Kirtland’s Warbler (now under threat from proposed development)
• 12 transients, most of which you will be very lucky to encounter

Palm Warbler, Abaco Bahamas (Nina Henry)

The photos used in this series were almost all taken on Abaco / the Cays. There’ll be examples of the male of each warbler species, with some females for contrast. Where I have no Abaco / Baha images – especially with the transients – I have used other mainstream birding resources and Wiki. All due credits will be given at the foot of each post.

Bahama Yellowthroat, Abaco Bahamas (Gerlinde Taurer)

The warblers shown above are a mix of warbler species on Abaco: resident / endemic, winter migrants, and transient / vagrant. Time to take a look at the first category, the Bahamas-loving resident species that live and breed on Abaco

5 PERMANENT RESIDENTS

BAHAMA YELLOWTHROAT Geothlypis rostrata PR B 1  ENDEMIC

Bahama Yellowthroat (endemic), Abaco Bahamas (Gerlinde Taurer)

BAHAMA WARBLER Setophaga flavescens PR B 1 ENDEMIC

Bahama Warbler (endemic), Abaco Bahamas (Bruce Hallett)

YELLOW WARBLER Setophaga petechia PR B 1 

Yellow Warbler, sunrise, Abaco Bahamas (Tom Sheley)

OLIVE-CAPPED WARBLER Setophaga pityophila PR B 1 

Olive-capped Warbler, Abaco Bahamas (Bruce Hallett)

PINE WARBLER Setophaga pinus PR B 1 

Pine Warbler, Abaco Bahamas (Tom Sheley)

PHOTO CREDITS Tom Sheley (1, 9, 11); Chris Johnson (2, 3); Alex Hughes (4); Nina Henry (5); Gerlinde Taurer (6, 7); Bruce Hallett (8, 10); Photos mainly from the archive collected for“THE DELPHI CLUB GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF ABACO” by Keith Salvesen