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The First BreedingRecord of Kirtland'sWarbler in Ontario

byDoris Huestis Speirs

The Kirtland's Warbler, Den­droica kirtlandi, is one of therarest of our warblers. Accordingto published records, .in all ofNorth America it has nested onlyin 13 counties of Michigan'snorthern Lower Peninsula, andonly in Jack pines (Pinusbanksiana) which are at least fiveor six years old and 0.3-1.8m tall.It winters in scattered islands ofthe Bahamas (Walkinshaw 1983).The first specimen of the specieswas collected near Cleveland in1851 and named after adistinguished Cleveland ornitho­logist, Dr. Jared Kirtland. The firstOntario specimen, a male, wascollected at Toronto Island on 16May 1900, by J. Hughes Samuel(Samuel 1900) and is in the RoyalOntario Museum, Toronto (speci­men #2241160).

In May 1916, Dr. PaulHarrington and Dr. FrederickStarr were training for artilleryservice at Petawawa MilitaryCamp, Renfrew County, on theOttawa River. To their greatsurprise they found Kirtland'sWarbler to be fairly common onthe Jack pine plains there.According to James L. Baillie Jr.,of the Royal Ontario Museum,they" heard them singing theirloud, clear, high-pitched and

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somewhat ventriloquistic song,noticed their tail-wagging habit anddetermined that these rather largeand tame warblers were distributedover a fairly large area and in thecamp grounds" (Baillie 1952).

The species was not reportedagain at Petawawa until Dr.Harrington searched the Jack pinestands in the same camp area inJune of 1939. On 5 June he saw amale Kirtland's Warbler at closerange (Harrington 1939). Unfor­tunately at neither time wasnesting confirmed.

In this note, I report theoccurrence of a pair of adultKirtland's Warblers near Mid­hurst, Ontario, in association withat least one, apparently stilldependent, juvenile. I concludethat the pair nested in the localvicinity, thereby providing the firstbreeding record for this species inOntario and the first breedingrecord from outside the state ofMichigan. The Ontario BirdRecords Committee (OBRC) hasaccepted this record as the firstbreeding record for the province.

In 1945 my husband, J. MurraySpeirs, was stationed at Barrie,Ontario, in connection with hisappointment as a MeteorologicalOfficer at Camp Borden. As manyJack pines had been planted in the

vicinity of the Camp, we searchedthem carefully in the hopes oflocating Kirtland's Warblers.Also, as six acres had beenplanted in Jack pines at theGovernment Forestry Station,Midhurst, the Station Managerassisted us in searching theirplantation thoroughly, but noKirtland's Warblers were found.

We lived in a stone bungalow 10kms northeast of Camp Borden,23-26 kms from Midhurst in OroTownship, Simcoe County,Ontario, on the northwest shore ofKempenfeldt Bay, Lake Simcoe(44° 24' N, 79° 39 Wand 230 mabove sea level). The nearbyvegetation included a huge oak treewhich overshadowed our swingingoutdoor couch and a woodland ofsmaller oaks (Quercus sp.) maples(Acer sp.), white birches (Betulapapyrifera) and staghorn sumacs(Rhus typhina), with an under­story of maple-leaved viburnum( Viburnum acerifolium), golden­rod (Solidago sp.), bergamot(Monarda fistulosa), and poisonivy (Rhus radicans). There werealso many large stones and stoneoutcroppings. There were noJack pines in the immediate vicinitybut a number of scattered red(Pinus resinosa) and white (P.strobus) pines.

On the morning of 8 August1945, I saw a strange warbler withan indication of a wing-bar, whiteover the eye, yellowish-greenbreast, darkish back and veryquick actions. I put it down as a"Kirtland's Warbler?". But howcould a Kirtland's Warbler behere? A fall migrant on its way tothe Bahamas?

The next day, 9 August, mynotes read:

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"3:30 p.m.-Warbler with brightyellow breast and streaks on thesides, brownish back, said 'tip­tip-tip' constantly and jerked tail.Made as much noise as achipmunk and started onescolding and so both were talkingat once. The warbler's 'tip' a littlehigher in tone than thechipmunk's. Moved aboutquickly in the trees atop the bluffand then flew chipping into thewoods."

On 10 August, I recorded thefollowing:

"The warbler with bright yellowbreast and streaks 'on the sides isback here today at 3:05 p.m.Noted white undertail coverts,black on cheeks as though thestripes were continued into theface. He had wing-bars;secondaries appeared black edgedwith grey; throat yellow. The tail­wagging suggests a PalmWarbler. I went to Peterson'sField Guide immediately (Peter­son 1934), ... Kirtland'sWarbler. The bird flewwith characteristic zip andenergy into one of the oaks whichedge the east side of the garden.My binoculars picked up afledgling in the shadow of theleaves. It was perched on abranch facing eastward. I noticedits short tail, rather fluffyplumage, brownish upperpartsand indication of wing-bars. Itstretched out one wing as Iglanced at it. The bill was quitestout for a warbler's. I wonderedwhose child it was, but was sointent in trying to follow themovements of the adult bird thefledgling was given little attentionby me. That it was given definiteattention by the adult, onlyoccurred to me in the night."

At the time I thought that the

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adult warbler was a migrant enroute to the Bahamas. That -it hadbred here never occurred to me atall. Twice as I followed the adult,my binoculars picked up thefledgling. Was it feeding it? Fordays the sound of baby birds beingfed about the bungalow had beennoted by both of us. Because of thepresence of poison ivy, we had notstudied the woodland east of thegarden. Young Yellow-rumpedWarblers (Dendroica coronata)and American Redstarts (Seta-phaga ruticilla) were being feddaily about the bungalow but wehad neglected that east bush.

At 4:00 p.m. I discoveted asecond adult Kirtland's Warbler inthe garden, apparently a female. Itwas busy preening, quite close towhere I was observing. The yellowbreast had two dark spots near thecentre; the male's breast was clearyellow. The bird's behaviour wasso different from the excitedmale's. It was absorbed in itspreening and only gave anoccasional 'tip' note as it waggedits tail. I observed that the tibiawere yellow, the feet and uppermandible dark and there was asuggestion of white in the tail. So,we had a pair of Kirtland'sWarblers.

The next morning, 11 August, Icalled on Dr. E. L. Brereton, anoted ornithologist from Barrie,and told him of our discoveries.He came out in the afternoon, butall was quiet. I had to leave by carto pick up Murray at the airport,but Dr. Brereton remained. On ourway horn-e we met him in Barrie.He was very excited; a new birdfor his life list. He said he had lefta note in the post office for us. Ittold how successful he had been in

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observing the male firsthand forabout 20 minutes. He wanted tocollect this rare bird but hadrefrained as he knew I had beensure it was feeding young.

On 13 August I came upon ajuvenile Kirtland's Warbler. Thatmorning I had heard 'tip' note at7:00 and 9:00 a.m. and had goneout to investigate in the eastwoodland, unsuccessfully. In theafternoon, at 3:55 p.m. exactly,the 'tip-tip-tip' notes were heardagain. The sound was coming froma very large red oak (Quercusrubra). I leaned against the trunkof a tree near the big oak as Iheard young birds being fed.Suddenly I saw an immaturewhich flew to a dead twig on anearby oak and remained therequietly for at least ten minutes.Undoubtedly it was a juvenileKirtland's Warbler. The tail wasnot short, but there was someyellowish down near the bend of awing. The bird remained very still,obviously conscious of beingwatched. I was able to make apage of careful notes on itsplumage.

It is strange, but we had heardnot one Kirtland song, just themany excited call-notes indicatingthe parents' concern for theiryoung. That afternoon, before mydiscovery of the juvenile, I heard asudden loud song from theKirtland territory. It was anunfamiliar outburst, a new song tome. It commenced quietly butaccelerated into a thrillingcrescendo, all in the space of a fewseconds. In the stillness of theafternoon woods, it was assurprising as seeing a meteor in thenight sky. Four years later, on 8May 1949, we each heard a

different male singing in theKirtland's Warbler country,Kalkaska County, Michigan. Wewere startled by the sudden joyous,ringing song.

On 16-17 August, I went to theRoyal Ontario Museum andstudied the tray of Kirtland'sWarblers in the Bird Room underJames L. Baillie's kind direction. Ihad with me my detaileddescription of the young Kirtland'sWarbler. A specimen in immatureplumage on the tray closelyresembled it. Baillie said that therewas no doubt the juvenile I sawwas a Kirtland's. Of the ninespecimens I examined, only theadult male, which had beencollected on Toronto Island inMay, 1900, had an immaculateyellow breast like our male. Twofemales had several spots on theirbreasts while ours had only two.On my return to the stonebungalow the Kirtland's Warblersseemed to have left. There wasneither sound nor sight of them.However, on 31 August at 8:30a.m. I heard the 'tip' note severaltimes. Hurrying out withbinoculars, I espied severalwarblers dashing about in thetreetops northeast of the bungalow.Then I saw a Kirtland's Warblerin a large oak above theincinerator. He jerked his tail fromtime to time as he ran along thebranches after insects. He wasvery active and hard to follow withthe glasses. At 8:45, as an EasternWood-Pewee (Contopus virens)and Red-eyed Vireo ( Vireoolivaceus) were singing, the maleKirtland's Warbler called outloudly again. Four NorthernFlickers (Colaptes auratus) flew

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into a tree near him and then hewas gone, probably leaving thenesting grounds for good.

Dr. Lawrence H. Walkinshaw(Walkinshaw 1939) wrote prophe­tically in an article on Dendroicakirtlandl:'

"It seems logical that it willeventually be found in Ontario...... breeding. " .

His prophecy has beenconfirmed.

[Eds. note: Excluding the Barrierecords and those from thePetawawa area (during the years1916,1939,1946 and 1977) thereare about 25 additional records ofthe Kirtland's Warbler in Ontariowhich are generally consideredvalid. These comprise springmigrants (20 records), summer(apparently territorial) birds (3records) and fall migrants (2records). Few of these records,however, have been reviewed bythe Ontario Bird RecordsCommittee (A. Wormington,OBRC Secretary, pers. comm.) ]

Literature CitedBaillie, Jr., J.L. 1952. InBirdland. No. 1094. TorontoEvening Telegram. Toronto,Ontario.

Harrington, P. 1939. Kirtland'sWarbler in Ontario. J ack-PineWarbler 17: 95-97.

Peterson, R. T. 1934. A FieldGuide to the Birds. Houghton­Mifflin, Boston, Massachusetts.

Samuel, I. [sic]. 1900. List of therarer birds met with during thespring of 1900 in the immediatevicinity of Toronto. Auk, 17: 391.

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Walkinshaw, L.H 1939. Kirtland's Walkinshaw, H. 1983. Kirtland'sWarbler or the Jack-Pine Warbler. Warbler: the natural history of anJack-Pine Warbler 17: 87-78. endangered species. Cranbrook

Institute of Science. Bull. 58: 1-207. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Notes

A Winter Record of a Veery in Ontario

On 27 December 1983, we above the ground on a limb of aobserved a single Veery (Catharus Norway maple. With the aid of 7 xfuscescens) at Lakeside Park, 35 and 7 x 50 binoculars we couldKitchener, in the Regional see the slender, dark bill and theMunicipality of Waterloo, Ontario. faint brown spots on the upper

The 18 ha park contains a 1.5 portion of the white breast. Aha kettle lake surrounded by a minute later, it flew into a tangle ofnarrow fringe of aquatic emer- wild grape (Vilis riparia) and thengents. The eastern side of the lake 10m up into a sugar maple.is dominated by an open, Although the weather was overcastimmature forest of poplar (Populus and it was snowing lightly, thetremuloides), while the northern brownish back and tail wereand western sides are shrubby in clearly visible. After approxi-aspect The remainder of the park mately two minutes, it flew awayis maintained lawn with occasional and was temporarily lost fromlarge trees, particularly black sight.walnut (Juglans nigra), Norway An hour later, it was observedspruce (Picea abies), and Norway again in a buckthorn (Rhamnus(Acer platanoides), and sugar cathartica). It was 2 m from themaple (A. saccharum). The park is ground and was approached tosurrounded by residences on three within 3 m. From this distance, allsides and a busy street on the necessary field marks could easilyfourth. Habitats of Lakeside Park be distinguished: the uniformlyare described in more detail by coloured tawny reddish brownDance (1982). back and tail; the light brown spots

The bird was first seen at 0845 on the upper portion of the breast;h at a distance of approximately the brownish cheeks; and the7 m. It was facing us, perched 3 m absence of an eye-ring.

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