020825 Muskogee Edition, Birding Today

https://www.muskogeephoenix.com/columns/birding-today-northern-minnesota-no-place-for-faint-hearted-birders/article_f1a91b10-e558-11ef-86ff-33591412260c.html 

Oklahoma Migratory Species Profile: Canada Warbler

This attractive, small warbler is uncommon within shaded deciduous undergrowth in mature forest along low, thick areas and many times along streams.

The necklaced warbler spends less time on the Boreal breeding grounds than most warblers, arriving late and leaving early.  It has also been known to breed along the Appalachians as far south as Georgia.  Due to overbrowsing by deer, deforestation, the wooly adelgid (a killer of hemlock and spruce), this passerine has been losing numbers.  In the Andes, where a large portion of these neotropical migrants overwinter, loss of habitat is hurting them on the opposite end of the spectrum.

As a strong flycatcher, it will flush insects while foraging along leaves and twigs, then darting out to catch escaped protein.  Also watch the ground, as they will forage among the leaves there,  Within dense foliage is can usually be located from a couple of feet from the ground to the higher canopies.  It will feel the effects of climate change as the years pass, and loss of forest due to clear cutting will take its toll.



               Canada Warbler
      Wikipedia/William Majoros

The male will have a darker necklace and a longer tail than the female.  They really are not dimorphic.  This passerine has thicker spectacles than most warblers, and fresh spring coloring will show a bright yellow chest, belly, and throat, as well as a dark gray back.  While nesting, they are often a Brown-headed Cowbird host.

Look carefully for the necklace, which will keep one from identifying it as a Magnolia Warbler and if there is a yellow throat, ID as a Yellow-throated Warbler.  During the fall, it is not difficult to determine the identity of this bird.  The adult male will show strong similarity to the spring male, but sometimes slightly duller with fringing upon the crown.  The female adult will have an olive cast to her upperparts, missing the black in her plumage.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Harris's Sparrow

Uncommon and local, the wintering flock chooses brushy areas around riparian corridors near water.  The species tends to mix well with other sparrows and stands out for its size as our largest sparrow.

Adult songbirds have a lovely color, including the characteristic white face and belly, as well as light gray or brown cheeks.  Only breeding in central Northern Canada in the Nunavet and Northwest Territories of the Boreal Forest, this sparrow is definitely one to be noticed, with the pink bill setting off its good looks.

As a lover of the grassland ecology, it is no surprise that this perching bird chooses to winter in the southern Great Plains through central Texas with open woods and brush piles, as well as the edges of bordering states.  Harsh weather tends to force them from the prairie provinces of Canada.

                                                                Harris's Sparrow
                                                          Boomer Lake Park 2016

Named by John James Audubon after amateur American ornithologist and naturalist Edward Harris, its song will usually be carried from a high perch.  They are expected to arrive in the Great Plains commonly through the month of November and early December, though early migrants have been recorded.  It will sometimes visit feeders for outstanding views of its countenance.  A group of Harris's Sparrows is known as a poll.

Immature birds will show a brown striped head, with a more orange toned bill.  This species will likely be affected by climate change due to logging, fires, and soil change on the breeding grounds, which will influence its preferred brushy habitat.

This bird only breeds in Canada, and is only native there and in the US.