Posts
Mike at 10,000 Birds this morning wrote a post on the importance of conserving habitat in the Caribbean, not just for endemics, but also for North American species. So what North American species winter there? That is a big question, and one that I cannot answer adequately at the moment. But here are the North American warblers that are known to winter on islands in the Caribbean.
Bachman's Warbler (if it still exists)
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Kirtland's Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
That is 23 species of wood warblers that breed in North America and winter in the Caribbean. One may be extinct (Bachman's), another flirted with extinction (Kirtland's), and at least four more are on the Audubon Watchlist (Prairie, Prothonotary, Worm-eating, Swainson's). That should be reason enough to follow the conservation stories from the Caribbean, even without delving into the wintering ranges of other families.
