Orange-crowned warbler spotted in ‘rare’ sighting during Christmas bird count in Hamilton

An orange-crowned warbler was spotted during Hamilton’s annual Christmas bird survey, a “rarity” for birdwatchers, organizers say.

Volunteer Bob Curry said he saw the warbler near Woodland Cemetery, on the peninsula that extends towards the base of Carroll’s Point in Hamilton Harbour.

“I was standing at the top of the north bank of the cemetery looking down into the deep ravine,” Curry said.  “A bird appeared in the trees above me that was smaller than the chickadees. As it dropped down and [got] closer, I could see that it was an orange-crowned warbler. It had the typical dull greenish-yellow body with vague dusky streaks on the breast and yellowish under tail coverts.”

Curry described seeing a bird with a greyish head and neck, a pale supercilium, or streak near the eye, and a crescent-shaped eye ring. “I had it in view for about 15 seconds,” he said.

Curry was among dozens of volunteers who took part in the long-standing event on Dec. 26. Hamilton Naturalists’ Club says it runs one of the oldest Christmas bird counts in Canada, starting in 1921.

The club will submit the data collected to the National Audubon Society, a conservation organization that collects bird count data from more than 2,400 locations across the western hemisphere, for analysis.

Rob Porter, bird study group director at Hamilton Naturalists’ Club, which organized the event, said there are entire winters when there are zero sightings of an orange-crowned warbler in all of Ontario, so spotting this one “was fairly rare.”

94 species observed during count

Porter said 94 species were observed on the count day with some “uncommon ones” among them. He said volunteers spotted 12 hermit thrush, breaking a record of 11 in 2002. Most years there have been only one or two found, he said.

“They breed in this region, just not the winter obviously, and there’s usually a very small number in southern Ontario for the winter, like, solo birds here and there,” Porter said. “Every other year or so we get one of those.”

Volunteers also counted 13 common raven, Porter said, adding that these first appeared in 2003 in Hamilton. He said there have been double-digit-sightings for five years now.

There were also some common but notable sightings during the count. They include:

• Twenty-six Carolina wren, which is Hamilton Naturalists’ Club’s lowest count of these birds since 2005. Porter said there have usually been more than 100 of these birds in the last few years, and the weather may have put them in hiding.

• 211 trumpeter swan — a count record. A total of 193 were seen in 2010, which was the previous record.

The Canada Goose was the most populous species observed during the count — 5,664. The most populous non-native songbird was the European starling — 1,856. The most populous native songbird was the dark-eyed junco — 808, while the most populous raptor species was the red-tailed hawk — 54.

The annual Christmas bird count, which began in New York City in 1900, takes place in so-called count circles on one day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.

Hamilton’s bird count usually takes place on Boxing Day. This year’s count circle extended out to parts of Burlington, Ont., where Porter said a gray catbird, “an uncommon bird,” was observed in Duncaster Park.