Myrtle Warbler
Setophaga coronata (Linnaeus, 1766) (0, 1)
Photo © Rob Stonehouse - High Shincliffe, Co. Durham, January-February 2014
STATUS
Nearctic. Polytypic.
OVERVIEW
Formerly known as Yellow-rumped Warbler.
1950-57 RECORD
1). 1955 Devon Near Exeter, Newton St Cyres, male, 4th January to 10th February when found dead, photo.
(F. R. Smith, British Birds 48: 204-207, plates 25-28; M. Brooks-King, Devon Bird-Watching and Preservation Society Report 1955: 50; BOURC (1956), Ibis 98: 155; I. C. T. Nisbet, British Birds 56: 204-217).
History F. Raymond Smith (1955) in British Birds, Vol. XLVIII. pp. 204-207, says: 'On 4th January 1955 a blizzard swept over southern England and covered the Exeter area of Devon with three inches of snow. At the School House, Newton St. Cyres, four miles from Exeter, Mrs. D. Cook placed food on her bird-table for the benefit of the Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus) and other birds which regularly visited the table. She recollects hearing an unusual bird-note on the afternoon of this date.
On 5th January her son, David Cook, noticed on the table a strange bird which he was unable to identify. This bird frequently gave the call note which Mrs. Cook recollects having heard the previous day. On 8th January David's father, Dr. D. Cook, rang me up to say that his son had drawn his attention to this bird and I asked him for a more detailed description. On 11th January he again telephoned and gave me further details; as a result, accompanied by my son, A. V. Smith, I went to see the bird.
It was visiting the bird-table regularly and could be watched without glasses at distances down to less than three feet as the table was touching the wall immediately beneath the dining-room window. It was at once apparent to us that the bird was of an unfamiliar species as it had areas of bright lemon yellow on each side of the body as well as a bright yellow rump and crown, while the fanned tail showed considerable areas of white. It was thought possible that it might be an American warbler.
Full details were therefore taken and sketches made and, later the same day, my son and I paid a visit to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, where through the kindness of Major A. B. Gay ready access was given to the excellent collection of skins of American warblers and also to a copy of Audubon's Birds of America. By means of the coloured plates in the latter it was possible to identify the bird as a Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata).
The identification was afterwards confirmed by examination of the fourteen skins of this species in the collection and from these it was possible to pick out a male bird in winter plumage which was almost identical with the live bird feeding at the table four miles away. The following details had been taken of the bird in bright sunshine.
General impression. Size appreciably more than a Blue Tit and rather less than a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) also present; estimated to be 5¼ to 5½ inches in length.
General appearance a large warbler with pale under-parts and brown upperparts, lemon yellow sides of body, and yellow rump visible in flight at a considerable distance.
Head. Crown dull brown with an area of lemon yellow in the centre which the bird appeared to disclose when in pursuit of the tits and which at other times was almost invisible. Nape and cheeks a dull mouse-brown; white rims above and below the eye, the upper one being continued as a pale buff stripe for a short distance behind the eye; the area behind the bill and below the eye blackish merging gradually into the brown cheeks.
Upper-parts. Mantle and back dull brown, the back being streaked with darker brown in four roughly parallel lines; rump a very distinctive lemon yellow edged with black on each side; upper tail-coverts brown. The yellow rump was normally concealed by the folded wings when the bird was at rest, but showed up prominently when the bird took flight.
Wings. Primaries black, showing bluish in good light, with very narrow pale edgings; secondaries blackish with pale edgings and a bluish tinge; greater wing-coverts similar but tipped with white or buff thus forming a wing-bar shading from white at the front to buff towards the back; a similar wing-bar was formed by the tips of the median wing-coverts which were otherwise brown; the lesser wing-coverts were brown speckled with bluish-grey spots forming a shoulder patch. Tail. When closed, the tail was blackish showing a bluish tinge; when it was spread as the bird took flight, a large triangular area of white could be seen at the base on each side, and this was found to consist of a large oval of white on the inner web of each outer tail-feather, together with a smaller area on the second feather and a very small area on the third feather on each side; these feathers were tipped with black.
Underparts. Chin and upper throat were white merging into dull white of lower throat and breast, streaks of dusky colour were visible on the upper breast; on each side of the breast was quite a large area of lemon yellow a portion of which was visible when the wing was closed; the remainder of the under-parts were dull white streaked with dark brown forming an irregular line on each side with a number of less obvious streaks below; the under-tail coverts were off-white.
Soft parts. Bill, legs and feet black and glossy, the bill being of a warbler type but rather deep at the base; the eye was dark and large.
On arrival in the area the Myrtle Warbler had established a defined territory based on the bird-table from which it ranged for distances of up to about twenty-five yards in very swift flight, returning immediately if any Blue Tits ventured down to the table, driving them away unmercifully; in fact, on 11th January it was seen to pull out a small feather from one, and on two other occasions actually to bear one to the ground. It took no interest in the several House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) and only occasionally in the local Robins (Erithacus rubecula), but at different times it was seen by David Cook and others to chase away Great Tits (Parus major), Dunnocks (Prunella modularis), Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) and also a Bullfinch (Pyrrhula nesa) and a Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba).
I again watched the bird on 12th January, this time being accompanied by R. F. Moore. On 13th January a further fall of snow to a depth of four inches took place, but Mrs. Cook was at pains to keep the bird-table clear of snow and to put out food in order to encourage the bird to stay. It was on this day that Mrs. Cook placed on the table a piece of bread and butter on which marmalade was spread; to her astonishment the Myrtle Warbler immediately took to the marmalade which it frequently sipped off the bread by bending down its head sideways; this affinity for marmalade persisted throughout its stay but to a diminishing extent, as with the onset of milder weather it began to obtain most of its food in a more natural manner from the ground while later still it spent a lot of time at a compost heap. At other times it was also seen to eat suet and the fat from bacon-rind and on one occasion to take a small white moth.
At first the bird showed considerable yellow on the crown, but on 11th and 12th January it was noticed that it could control the brown feathers of the crown, covering the yellow when at rest or feeding and exposing it in variable amounts when chasing the Blue Tits or when otherwise on the alert.
On 15th January when the Myrtle Warbler was watched by P. A. D. Hollom, I. J. Ferguson-Lees, R. G. Adams and myself during wet weather, the yellow on the crown was completely exposed until the head began to dry off and it was apparent that the brown feathers were flattened aside in the open position by the moisture. On this date far more dark streaking was apparent on the breast no doubt due to a similar displacement of the feathers when wet.
It was noticed that the bird assumed a plumpish appearance when at rest, but when on the alert it appeared slender and these two postures are well illustrated in the excellent photographs taken by E. H. Ware (plates 25-28). A short length of colour film was also taken by H. G. Hurrell.
In dry weather the bird was seen by many observers to take insects in the air after the manner of a flycatcher, returning to the same perch or near-by. The bird was always easily located as it frequently uttered a distinctive clear "chick" and this note was recorded by C. Rockett on a portable recorder. When in the vicinity of the table the Myrtle Warbler frequently held its wings partially spread probably in threat display towards the Blue Tits and when it took flight it immediately fanned the tail exposing the two triangular areas of white to the full. On 16th January it was seen two or three times to flatten itself into a horizontal straight line and to bob its head up and down for about 15 seconds.
As time progressed the bird extended its range up to about fifty yards from the table and David Cook was able to watch the bird go to roost, usually in a small holly tree about eighty yards away; here again it was seen to chase the Blue Tits out of the same tree before retiring to roost. Although the bird latterly reduced its visits to the bird-table it always regularly paid a visit in the early morning.
On 10th February when it paid this visit David noticed that it looked a little "off colour" and later in the morning it was noticed that the Blue Tits were visiting the table in force without molestation giving rise to the impression that the bird had gone. A search in the garden in the afternoon revealed the Myrtle Warbler lying dead underneath a tree only a few yards from the bird-table. The bird was outwardly in perfect condition and had clearly met its death from some internal cause and not from external injury. It was skinned and set up and is now on view at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.
An examination of the body after skinning by Prof. L. A. Harvey disclosed no apparent cause of death. There had been ten degrees of air frost on the previous night after a mild spell and it may well be that death was due to a combination of some diet deficiency due to the bird being out of its normal element followed by a lowered resistance to withstand the sudden recurrence of a sharp frost.
It is of interest to note that a detailed description of the bird taken by C. H. Fry on 5th February disclosed more grey-blue colour on the lower back, tail-coverts and median and lesser coverts than was visible in early January; furthermore, an examination of the bird after death disclosed that this blue-grey then extended from the lesser coverts down to the rump and it is therefore evident that it was in the process of changing into summer plumage at the time of its death.
It was noted that the outer toe of the left foot was missing, but this injury did not appear to be of recent origin. It could also be seen that the bluish tinge of the wings was mainly due to a shade of blue-grey in the pale edgings. One possible explanation of the intense antipathy of the Myrtle Warbler to the resident Blue Tits may be that a colour reaction was set up by the blues and yellows being of similar shades to those of male Myrtle Warblers in full plumage.
It seems certain that the arrival of the bird at Newton St. Cyres was brought about by the spreading of snow conditions to southern England and that it had in all probability arrived in this country some time before, when conditions existed which were suitable for a transatlantic crossing.
Mrs. Cook lost count of the number of observers who watched the bird but at least sixty must have seen it, many of whom travelled considerable distances. On behalf of all these I should like to express our gratitude to Mrs. Cook for her kindness in welcoming all and installing them in her warm dining-room where they watched the bird in comfort for many hours.'
[In connection with this record it is of interest to note that we have had preliminary reports of what seems to have been an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) near Tralee, Co. Kerry, on 11th and 13th January 1955; also Messrs. J. Kist and J. Swaab inform us that an adult male American Scoter (Melanitta nigra americana) - the first individual of this race to be recorded in Europe - was seen near De Beer, Holland, on 26th and 27th December, and picked up dead there on the 28th. - Eds.]
Admitted nationally as the first for Britain (BOURC (1956) Ibis 98: 155).
I. C. T. Nisbet (1963) in British Birds, Vol. LVI. pp. 204-217, discusses 'American passerines in western Europe, 1951-62'.
NOT PROVEN
0). 1955 At sea Sea area Malin, on board Saxonia, adult, 30th May, with SW Scotland in sight.
(J. M. R. Margeson, British Birds 52: 237-238).
[KAN].
History J. M. R. Margeson (1959) in British Birds, Vol. LII. pp. 237-238, says: 'On 24th May 1955, my wife and I set sail from Montreal on the Saxonia and landed in Liverpool a week later.
Soon after we left, when we were still in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we noticed a bird on the upper deck which I identified as a Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata): it remained on board and we last saw it on 30th May as we were passing the coast of North Ireland and approaching Scotland (land in sight).
We watched it each day because we realized that it was unusual for a small bird to remain with a ship and we wished to see how long it would stay. It seemed to adjust itself to the confined limits of the ship and to accept human beings fairly readily: often we were within six feet of it as it hopped about the after deck. If anyone approached too close, however, it would fly to a lifeboat or to one of the masts. The crossing was not a rough one - there were no gales and little heavy rain - but the bird was always near the stern. Several people scattered crumbs for it, but although it was often hopping about among them we did not see it take any.
It appeared to be searching crannies and corners, behind benches and tackle on the deck, though I could not say whether there was any insect food there and it may just have been seeking shelter. Whatever the way it managed to survive, it certainly appeared very lively and strong on the wing.
The bird was dull blue above and almost white beneath, striped with broken black marks and with pale yellow at the sides; the throat was white, and there was a yellow patch on the head and another on the rump.'
Comment Not sure why this is not admitted. It presumably would possibly count for three national committees: Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
