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Canada Warbler
PARULINE DU CANADA
Wilsonia canadensis (Linnaeus)
Uncommon breeder in the southern
half of the boreal forest; locally fairly common in west-central Manitoba; rare
migrant elsewhere in the south.
Distinct yellow “spectacles” and a necklace of black streaks are the
distinguishing features of this handsome warbler's plumage. Otherwise, it is
uniformly blue-grey above and mainly yellow below, somewhat like a female or
immature male Magnolia Warbler. The song, a staccato jumble of notes, also suggests
a Magnolia Warbler, but can be recognized by its longer duration and—at close
range—a sharp, introductory tik note.
Spring migrants normally arrive in the second half of May, with some
birds still on the move in early June. The fall migration peak is in August and
early September. The species is inconspicuous, sticking closely to dense
shrubbery in or near deciduous or mixed-wood forest. Even during peak migration
periods, it is unusual to see more than one or two birds per day outside the
localized breeding range.
Canada Warblers breed in the northeastern U.S.A. as well as in parts of
every Canadian province except Newfoundland and Labrador. Generally uncommon in
Manitoba, they breed at scattered localities across the southern boreal forest,
northward at least to The Pas. A vagrant was observed at Churchill on 13 June
1992.
In the southeast, this warbler is spottily distributed in and near
Whiteshell and Nopiming Provincial Parks, southward to the Northwest Angle and
east to Agassiz Provincial Forest and the Brokenhead River. Though daily counts
rarely exceed five birds, there are well-defined localities where the species
is reliably found from year to year. Typically, these are moist patches of
dense understorey in deciduous or mixed-wood forest, often on sloping terrain
near a lake or river. Rogers described the species as an “abundant summer
resident in light woods” at Hillside Beach, Lake Winnipeg, which is difficult
to reconcile with its present status in the southeast.1 The limited
information provided by Thompson suggests that the species was no more common
in Manitoba during the 19th century than it is today.2
The Canada Warbler is also uncommon and locally distributed in
west-central Manitoba. However, Godfrey cited observers who found it fairly
common at The Pas in 1937 and abundant in the Cedar and Moose Lakes area in
1929.3 The latter observation is supported by recent Breeding Bird
Survey totals of up to 37 Canada Warblers on the Muddy Bay route, which
traverses the neck of land between Lake Winnipegosis and Cedar Lake. These are
by far the highest survey totals in the province. The only other routes with
significant numbers are all in the southeast: Bird River, Bissett and Hecla
Island, all with low single-digit averages. Occasional observations have been
made on eight additional routes.
No Manitoba nests have been documented for the Canada Warbler, and
evidence for nesting is limited to territorial singing plus occasional
observations of alarmed adults carrying food.
1 Rogers 1937; 2 Thompson
1890; 3 Godfrey 1953.
G.E. Holland, C.E. Curtis, P. Taylor
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