During spring migration, California gets a lot of great birds passing through that are on their way farther north. One of the best birds in this group is the Black-and-White Warbler, which spends its winters in southern Mexico/Central America/South America and breeds in Canada and the northeastern United States. On its northward journey, however, the bird frequently finds itself taking a breather in California's deserts and coastal areas.
The Black-and-White Warbler also has one of the coolest little squeaky wheel songs you're bound to find in birds and the video below catches it perfectly:
The eBird map below from today is a great illustration of the Black-and-White Warbler mid-journey, filling up the eastern U.S. and showing up in California in small numbers.
(photo above by Amy E. McAndrews)
By Garrison Frost
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.