We're hearing from the list serves that a Canada Warbler was seen this morning in Sutro Heights Park in San Francisco. This sweet-faced New World warbler isn't typically found east of the Rockies. A long annual migration takes it to its wintering grounds in northern South America, where habitat loss is a threat. It sometimes get lost on its journey; European twitchers saw one in both Iceland (!) and Clare, Ireland. The Canada Warbler global population is estimated to be 1.4 million and according to the Audubon Watchlist:
Canada Warblers are not abundant within most of the breeding distribution, and based on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) results from 1966 - 2001, populations have declined at rate of 1.9% per year throughout the breeding range. The most severe declines are in the northeastern U.S., perhaps a result of a change in forest structure over the past century.
If you're lucky enough to be near SF try to spot this yellow beauty.
(Photo by Emmett Hume)
By Daniela Ogden
HOTSPOT: Flyover of California's Birds and Biodiversity
California is a global biodiversity hotspots, with one of the greatest concentrations of living species on Earth.