Bachmans Warbler

[the bird]

Having had all the up-roar, discussion and the dis-belief on the recent discovery of the 'thought to be extinct' Ivory-billed Woodie-Woodpecker, it has got me thinking about a bird I mentioned in one of my dissertations at University - the Bachmans Warbler.


Having just googled the info on the bird to remind myself how it got in such a quandry, does anybody believe there maybe a chance that this beautiful little bird may still exist?


There seems to be disagreement about the last recorded sighting as well - some say 1965 - 1975, others say 1988, anybody got any accurate evidence?


Also has there ever been a photo taken of this bird, if so where can you find one? All I find is drawings, paintings and a photo of a stuffed specimen - not exactly what I was hoping for.


Cheers

The Bird.

[Bluetail]

This looks real enough to me:
http://content.ornith.cornell.edu/UEWebApp/images/Bachmans-Warbler-d09-2-260_S.jpg

There's also a very fair photo of a male in vol.3 of John Farrand Jnr. (ed.) The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding.

[the bird]

This looks real enough to me:
http://content.ornith.cornell.edu/UEWebApp/images/Bachmans-Warbler-d09-2-260_S.jpg

There's also a very fair photo of a male in vol.3 of John Farrand Jnr. (ed.) The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding.



that picture almost looks like it was taken yesterday.

[streatham]

that picture almost looks like it was taken yesterday.

If only it was. I'm fairly certain that the Bachman's unfortunately is no longer with us. There is a good account of the bird in the Petersonn guide to Warblers: Always an uncommon bird - Discovered 1832 - Remained almost unknown until 1880's. They think select logging of bottomland forests in late 19thC allowed a growth of habitat for the bird and more frequent encounters with it until c1920 when the woodlands were clear cut and sightings again plummeted. Since the 30's reports are rare with the last undisputed sighting in 1962 at I'On Swamp S. Carolina.

The fact that it wintered almost exclusively on Cuba would make the liklihood of it's survival and avoidance of detection very unlikely I would think. Obviously with the re-discoverey of the Ivory Billed hopes of re-finding these birds are raised again. If any more of the presumed extinct NA birds are still out there my long shot bet however would be on the Eskimo Curlew.

Luke

[CornishExile]

A little more information and some photos on the last Bachman's Warbler thread from earlier this year:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=33826

ce

[the bird]

A little more information and some photos on the last Bachman's Warbler thread from earlier this year:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=33826

ce



Cheers CornishExile

so has any of the video evidence been commented up on by the specialists or are we stil awaiting the results??

[CornishExile]

Cheers CornishExile

so has any of the video evidence been commented up on by the specialists or are we stil awaiting the results??

Nothing said so far that I'm aware of. Like Rasmus said earlier in the year, it's a call the experts will want to be very sure of before they make it.

cheers

ce

[dacol]

When I was searching the Web for any information about possible
Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in South Carolina I came accross a reference about a search for Bachman's Warbler.

In the Spring of 2002 an extensive search for Bachman's Warbler was organized by biologists of the US Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It was carried out in the Congaree Swamp National Monument [now Congaree National Park] in South Carolina. No Bachman's Warblers were found. The search was motivated by the reports of a birder from New Jersey in April 2000 and April of 2001. These reports included visual sightings of a female Bachman's Warbler and the hearing of the song of the male Bachman's Warbler in at least 3 separate locations in the Congaree NP.

Reference: http://www.acjv.org/pdf_files/Bachmans%20Survey.pdf


Dalcio

[CornishExile]

Interesting stuff. It seems that the distribution of Bachman's Warblers was always fairly fluid due to its specific habitat requirements; the aftermath of hurricanes causing new growth areas being a good thing. Thanks for that link dacol.

ce

[sparrowbirder]

Why is 1962 always quoted as the last sighting,when on the above thread the photos of the Florida bird are dated march 1977,is this just a mistake