[Bristol-Birds] BBC warbler panel enjoyed by large turnout

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 23:51:28 -0400




















A large turnout of birders was on hand for the Bristol Bird
Club's Tuesday night panel discussion about Blue-winged
Warblers, Golden-winged Warbler, their hybrids and their 

populations in the region.

Above is the nesting bird which
has gained so much attention.
It appears to be a female
Blue-winged Warbler, however
several heard and saw a similar 
bird (if not this one) sing, carrying
nesting material, building a nest
and now incubating 5 eggs.
 Such behavior is not excepted from a male of the species.  A male
 would sing and a female is not expected to sing.  Males do not
 build nests and do not incubate eggs.

 May 13-14 - most (and hopefully all) male Golden-wingeds in 
 vicinity of this nest, were color banded and blood samples have 
 been collected. Brooding bird, determined to be a female, was 
 banded and blood samples were collected; 5 eggs were still in
 the nest on May 13.  Now, with the banding of a male Golden-winged,
 activities in area should be easier to monitor.

 There is still no information about the mate to the nesting bird.

 The objective is to sample and mark as many of the Golden-wingeds
 as possible at the Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area in 
 Carter Co., where this nest is located. Plans are to collect blood 
 samples from the young in the nest when they are close to fledging.  
 Blood samples are being sent to Sara Barker at Cornell University

 Labs, who headed up the 2000 Golden-winged Warbler Atlas.  She 

 is also analyzing 2010 blood samples collected at Hampton Creek

 Cove.



 Dick Peake, Tom Laughlin, Tom Hunter, Rob Biller and Rick Phillips

 participated in the panel discussion and did a wonderful job.    

 
 The participants were well informed and brought much preparation
 for the discussion.  Rick Phillips had a very large poster of a nest
 of a Golden-winged Warbler from the Roan Mountain area and
 Rob Biller had a giant poster of the Blue-winged Warbler - type
 nest found May 1 at Hampton Creek Cove by Gary Cooper, Mike
 Sanders and seen by others.  It is the first such Blue-winged nest
 found in Northeast Tennessee.

 There was not much agreement among participants about the
 impact of the Blue-winged Warbler nesting at Hampton Creek 
 Cove and no one was quite sure how long they think it would
 take before the Golden-winged Warblers would begin to have
 trouble.  One participants felt this could happen in as little as
 five years but most had no idea.

 Blue-winged Warblers first invaded nearby Southwest Virginia in
 the early 1980s and the population has spread and is well
 established in most counties.  Maps of that distribution were shown.

 Biller said a small population of Blue-winged Warblers had been
 found several years ago at Poga in Johnson Co. TN and he was at
 the site with Tom McNeil during the spring bird count.  He said the
 area had been built over by homes and the habitat gone.

 From the many charts, maps and such shown, it was obvious that
 Golden-winged Warblers have enjoyed a more widespread 
 distribution through out much of Southwest Virginia due to the
 higher elevation.  But the areas of the Ridge and Valley Region in
 Northeast Tennessee may not have either the habitat or higher
 elevation required by the Golden-wingeds.

 Maps and distribution in Western North Carolina seem to reflect
 a much higher elevation area along the mountains and Golden-wingeds
 were much more widely spread and well distributed in that areas just
 as in Southwest Virginia.

 Virginia has recently produced an amazing range-wide survey of the
 Golden-wingeds and Blue-wingeds.  A total of 40 counties were surveyed
 in the state with 932 point counts made in 863 patches to find the
 Golden-winged Warblers in just 11 counties.  Blue-winged Warblers
 were located in 18 of 40 counties.  Buchanan County and Tazewell
 County in Southwest Virginia had the state's largest and second
 largest population respectively.

 There were discussions about the hybrids, elevation, habitat and
 much said about the conservation management for the Golden-wingeds
 in the region.

 Among those providing information for the session were the state
 ornithologist of Virginia and a members of the Golden-winged Warbler
 Working Group for North America.

Everyone seemed to leave better informed and appreciative for the
effort of the panel, which received a nice ovation at the end.

Those attending, including (*) those who were at the Mad Greek for
dinner: 

*Dave Worley, Marty Huber, JoAnn Detta, *Larvene Hunter,
*Tom Hunter, *Wilma Boy, *Rick Knight, *Lois Cox, 
*Judy Roach, *Mary Erwin, Lola McClellan, *Rick Phillips,
Rob Biller, Tom Laughlin, Michele Villeneuve, Don Leach,
*Charles Powell, *Roy Knispel, *John Moyle, Mike Poe
*John Hay, *Dick Peake, Ruth Clark, Mary Clark, 
*Carolyn Coffey, Marin Dimitrov, Steve McClellan and
*Wallace Coffey.
[Bristol-Birds] BBC warbler panel enjoyed by large turnout

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