John James Audubon experienced only a few brief encounters with the Bay-breasted warbler. Audubon speculated correctly that the bird did not breed in the lower 48 United States, or if it did, it was only towards the very far north. The Bay-breasted warbler remains difficult to see and hear in the lower 48 United States. The largest count of Bay-breasted warblers reported on Cornell’s e-Bird system is the 450 that Derek Muschalek and nine others counted just north of Galveston Bay on April 30, 1988, and called the “The last HUGE Texas FALLOUT ever!” (See eBird Checklist S4534640.)
Plate 69 – Bay-Breasted Warbler
Plate 69 of the first edition of "Birds of America" by John James Audubon.