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by Rick Toochin

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Introduction and Distribution

The Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca) is a highly migratory eastern warbler, breeding in the Boreal Forests of Eastern Canada from eastern Alberta, near Cold Lake, right across Canada to Newfoundland, south to New England, the upper Great Lakes region, and further south through the Appalachian Mountains to western North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee (Curson et al. 1994, Dunn and Garrett 1997). The wintering range of the Blackburnian Warbler is in Central America and in South America from Columbia, Venezuela, northern Brazil (south in the Andes) to central Bolivia (Curson et al. 1994). Migrating birds in North America mostly move through the Mississippi Valley and the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf Coast (Curson et al. 1994). From here they either follow the coastline or cross the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula on their way to central and South America (Curson et al. 1994). Vagrancy of this beautiful warbler in the west is well documented with California having over 500 records (Hamilton et al. 2007). The species is so regular in this State that is no longer a review species (Hamilton et al. 2007). In Oregon there are nine accepted records (OFO 2012). In Washington there are seven accepted records (Wahl et al. 2005, WRBC 2012). British Columbia has had thirteen records of Blackburnian Warbler (Campbell et al. 2001, Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1). There are no records for Alaska (West 2008). Because this warbler breeds across the Boreal Forest to Newfoundland, and it is a long distance migrant that can be displaced by large weather systems in the fall, there are records for Greenland, Iceland and Europe (Lewington et al. 1992, Mullarney and Zetterstrom 2009). Occurrence and Documentation

On September 13, 2006, an adult male Blackburnian Warbler was found by the author at Jordan River mixed in with a large migrating flock of Townsend’s Warblers that also had a couple of Black-throated Gray Warblers and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers (Toochin 2012b). The bird was constantly moving with this flock and was impossible to photo-document. This bird stayed in the general area for three days, allowing many to see it. The timing of this sighting fits well with the overall west coast vagrancy pattern found in the fall, established in California. Of the thirteen records for the Province of Blackburnian Warbler (Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1), two have occurred in the later part of August (one near Vancouver and one in Vernon). This fits the timing of when it is known that Blackburnian Warblers start migrating south which is in the month of August. (Dunn and Garrett 1997, Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1). There are four records (all from Vancouver Island) for the month of September (Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1). This follows the pattern of records in California where 90% of all the States records comes from the period of August 27 – December 22, with the peak of records occurring in mid-September (Hamilton et al. 2007). In the middle of September it makes sense to look for this species, as passerine migration peaks in British Columbia at this point in the fall (Campbell et al. 2001). There is only one Provincial record for October which comes from the exact same location as a previous September record from Jordan River, and is likely a late or lost bird on its first migration (Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1). This bird was an immature individual that was found with a large late migrating flock of Townsend’s Warblers in the Alder Trees along the Jordan River (Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1). In the spring there is only one May record for the Province and that comes from the Vancouver area (Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1). There is a possibility that this species breeds sporadically in the north eastern Peace River region of the Province, as the birds preferred habitat is present in the region, and it is a vastly under birded area. There are three July records of singing males in this area that also add weight to the possibility that this species occasionally nests in the Province (Campbell et al. 2001, Toochin et al. 2013c). In migration Blackburnian Warblers can be found in either coniferous or deciduous trees. There are no photographed records for this species in British Columbia. There are only, to date, very well described birds documented with detailed field notes. The only record that has physical evidence is a window-killed bird from the Kamloops area (Toochin et al. 2013, Please see Table 1). To date all records from Vancouver Island have been of birds found in Alder Trees and on, or very near, the coastline. With more records of eastern warblers (such as Northern Parula, Hooded Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler) all occurring in British Columbia during the overshoot window of mid-May to mid-June, observers should be on the lookout for this species at that time. Better coverage given to known coastal vagrant traps will also likely increase the Provincial number of records from mid-August to mid-October. Many Boreal warblers have been found along the coast of British Columbia and, though this species does occur a bit further east than many that regularly occur along the coast in the fall, there is no reason to not expect one of these little gems to reoccur in the future.