Home : Bird Watcher's Digest: The Well-Equipped Birder, Birding Vans

Spring Warbler Watching

Each spring I promise myself that this is the year that I'm going to be totally ready for the warblers' arrival. I'll get my ears prepared by listening to CDs of warbler songs and I'll get my eyes prepared by watching videos and DVDs of warblers and by reviewing the species profiles in my favorite field guides. My goal is to eliminate that moment of confusion and lack of total recall when I hear the first magnolia warbler or American redstart (two species whose songs I can't always remember).

Are you hoping to be better prepared for spring warbler migration this year? If so, here are a few of my recommended resources:

For your ears:

Birding By Ear and More Birding By Ear (Audio CDs or cassettes, each about $30) by Richard K. Walton and Robert W. Lawson (Houghton Mifflin).

These audio CD sets do an excellent job of helping you to learn and remember bird songs and sounds. The warbler sections contain similar-sounding species.

Birding By Ear/More Birding By Ear are available in the Bird Watcher's Digest nature shop.

Identiflyer by For The Birds

This handy, palm-sized digital device plays one bird song at a time from small, colorful cards (containing digital sound chips) that you insert into the player. Sound cards come in sets–I suggest getting the eastern or western warblers set. Simply press the button next to the picture of the bird you want to hear and a short rendition of the species' song plays. This is a great product for refreshing your memory at home or in the field. I use it to quiz fellow birders on warbler songs when I'm leading spring field trips.

For your eyes:

Watching Warblers (VHS video or DVD) by Michael Male and Judy Fieth (Blue Earth Films).

Watching Warblers is like going to warbler camp. It's the next best thing to actually seeing live birds, except that you can review the footage over and over until it sinks in! The creators are currently dividing the collection into eastern and western versions, which will make them even more useful.

Cost (DVD): only $39.95 in our nature shop

For your brain:

Warblers of North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) by Jon Dunn and Kimball Garrett (Houghton Mifflin).

This comprehensive field guide features everything you could ever want to know about warblers. Complete species profiles, augmented by illustrations and photographs cover all of North America's 60 warbler species.

Warblers of North America: Our Birds (CD-ROM)
From Thayer Birding Software ($19.95)

This software program contains songs, images, range maps, and other natural history information for 57 of North America's warbler species. Special features include an ID Wizard and a warbler quiz. This useful resource only works on personal computers using the Windows operating system.

WithoutBricks.com
809 Walkerbilt Road, Suite #4
Naples, FL 34110

There are many other excellent resources available for sharpening your warbler watching skills. Searching online for warbler information can be helpful, too. For example: Go to www.google.com, click on the Image Search link, and type in "hooded warbler." You'll see numerous hooded warbler images posted on the Internet. Just don't spend all of your time inside in front of the computer, watching videos, or with your nose in a book!