Friday Bird Blogging: The Magnolia Warbler

Per Cornell:

The name of the species was coined in 1810 by Alexander Wilson, who collected a specimen from a magnolia tree in Mississippi. He actually used the English name "Black-and-yellow Warbler" and used "magnolia" for the Latin species name, which became the common name over time.

My first encounter with a Magnolia Warbler was at Parker River, when it was one of many warblers that we encountered in a fallout (when large groups of warblers pause together during migration). The next year, I got much better looks at them-- finding one this Spring in Maine and then again a couple weeks ago closed to home at Herrick's Cove in Bellows Falls. These are tiny birds (4-5"), and not at all easy to photograph, but when they do make themselves visible, they can provide for some really nice pictures.