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Even in bird-blessed Arizona, with its plethora of colorful
and unique species in diverse and widely dispersed families,
the wood warblers define summer birding just as they do in the
rest of the country. Small
and elusive, yet bright and vocal, six of these “butterflies
of the bird world” appear here in the spring, disappear in
the fall, and qualify as Arizona special species, species
found only here or more easily here than in any other state.
Red-faced Warbler, Cardellina
rubrifrons, is the only one of our special wood warblers
in a genus by itself. (Olive
Warbler, featured in our summer, 2000 issue, has recently been
split from the wood warblers and placed in its own family.)
In body shape and feeding habits, Warbler aficionados
may find Red-faced highly reminiscent of Wilson’s and
Canada—long tails, long rictal bristles, and flycatcher-like
ability to pluck insects from foliage or snatch them in
flight. Taxonomists
agree that Cardellina and Wilsonia
are closely related.
Red-faceds breed across the central mountains of our state
and throughout the southern Sky Islands from 6000 to 9000
feet. They are
found in conifer, oak, and aspen, typically on shaded slopes
and in shady canyons where, despite their scarlet faces, they
are ground nesters. In
summer they are also found in southwestern New Mexico and in
the Sierra Madre Occidentals of northwestern Mexico, wintering
farther south in Mexico south to Honduras and El Salvador.
Spring arrival here is generally late April with an
early September departure.
Though I can find no reference to it in the literature, it
has long been my impression that these warblers breed in loose
colonies in their preferred habitat.
Often in following this species while photographing, I
have observed squabbles amongst multiple identifiable
individuals seemingly along the edges of adjoining
territories, yet neighboring canyons may hold none of these
birds at all.
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Perhaps because of this, Red-faced Warblers, though not
uncommon, can be maddeningly hard to find.
It is extremely helpful to learn their “sweet” song
which is very similar to that of the Yellow Warbler which does
not occur in Red-faced’s mountainside haunts.
Though they are active and acrobatic feeders frequently
making conspicuous forays from high in the pines to low bushes
and often hanging chickadee fashion from the ends of branches,
they are quite inconspicuous and secretive in and around the
nest.
Nests are depressions on the forest floor beside a rock or
underneath a root, often under overhanging leaf litter, always
in deep shadow. It
is usually impossible to discern the nest’s exact location
even after carefully pinpointing where a mated pair is going
to ground with food in its bills. The accompanying
photograph of a parent (Red-faced sexes are similar, though
the males’ red face is typically brighter) conveying food to
its young was taken in June, 2000, at the second stream
crossing above Beatty’s orchard in Miller Canyon in the
Huachucas.
Red-faced Warblers can be found from the Bradshaws south of
Prescott to the San Francisco Peaks and across the White
Mountains to the Hanagan Meadow area, and in all of
Arizona’s southern mountain ranges.
Rose Canyon on Mt Lemmon may well be the place to most
easily find this species and most readily observe its
lifestyle.
Imagine the delight of Rich Ditch, our former editor, when a
Red-faced Warbler became one of his first yard birds shortly
after he moved here from the east coast.
Imagine how many lifetimes he will have to wait for
that to happen again. With
the exception of Lucy’s, Arizona’s special wood warblers
are almost never seen in the lowlands or deserts.
This is a good thing.
I can think of no better excuse to go to the mountains
in the summer than to search for Red-faced Warbler and our
four other high country avian butterflies. |
