Plate 103 – Canada Warbler

While exploring around Eastport, Maine, on the morning of May 19, John James Audubon remarked that “much ice still remained on the northern exposures.” Despite the chilly conditions, Audubon was able to locate the nest of a Canada warbler. Until that time, Audubon noticed “Wherever a streamlet of rushing water, deeply shaded by the great mountain laurel (Rhododendron maximum) was met with, there was the Canada Flycatcher [warbler] to be found. You might see it skipping among, the branches, peeping beneath each leaf, examining every chink of the bark, moving along with rapidity and elegance, singing, making love to its mate, and caressing her with all the fervour of a true sylvan lover.” Canada remains the best place to find Canada warblers gathering in large numbers. On May 28, 2018, Thierry Grandmont counted 14,432 Canada warblers at Dunes de Tadoussac in Quebec (see eBird Checklist S46118050). In addition to the Canada warbler, Grandmont identified 94 other species and counted a total of 726,206 birds during what he called “the greatest birding day of my life.”