Wilson’s Warbler – Cardellina pusilla
On Tuesday afternoon this week a very small bright yellow bird showed up and was foraging for insects on and near our deck. We grabbed a camera just in case he was somebody cool; turns out, he was indeed very cool. The bird is a Wilson’s Warbler and is a migrant rarely seen in Georgia. The sighting is even more unusual because this little bird should have been in his Central American winter home a couple of months ago.
Unsure of ourselves, we asked our trusted bird-savvy friends to confirm the ID. On Thursday we posted a note on UGA’s Ornithological list-serve announcing our find. On Friday, Atlanta Audubon sent a very knowledgeable person over to see if he could see the bird – and he did!
This is just one of many reasons why urban neighborhoods like ours are so important. This migrant lost his way or his timing and has been able to survive here in spite of the cold. Probably because food, water and shelter are all available. We’re still on the lookout hoping to catch another glimpse.
References and Additional Information
[1] Cornell – All About Birds: Wilson’s Warbler
the Intown Hawk 
How EXCITING!! What a beauty. Glad you were in the right place at the right time. I know how exciting it can be. I saw a goldfinch at my backyard feeder one time and bout wet my pants. TMI? Thanks for sharing.
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Bill, can I post a link to this page on the Georgia Master Naturalist FB page?
I have a terrible time identifying warblers.
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Absolutely Patty! Thanks and please do. We are terrible at Warblers too, and that’s why we waited so long to get the word out until our contacts who know something could confirm. If we get a better photo, we’ll put it up on this post as a postscript (no pun intended)
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Very cool!!
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In fact, so very very cool, I was prompted to look him up and read an interesting article about how climate change could affect this bird’s range. Wonder if he’s alone or if many of them flew off course and ended up in foreign backyards belonging to people not paying attention to the little birds outside?
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Very good question. One for which we don’t have a good answer at the moment, but maybe could do some research on for a post. We did just see a message posted on GABO that said that the Sandhills were seen today over Cobb county heading back north. It was only a month ago that they were still passing through headed south. Would you send us a link to the article you found?
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