Kirtlands

Kirtland’s Warbler Dendroica kirtlandii

Kirtland’s Warbler

Dendroica kirtlandii

The Kirtland’s Warbler is one of our rarest songbirds as they are on the endangered species list. It suffered a very serious decline in the 60’s with 502 singing males recorded in 1961 to 201 singing males in 1971. Through intense conservation efforts to grow and protect tracts of Jack Pine forests through controlled burning and cowbird control, the numbers increased to over 700 singing males in 1995. Now the current numbers are over 1000.

One of the larger warblers it nests on the ground in sandy soil only in large tracts of young jack pines 5 to 25 ft. tall. Currently its territory is mainly within four counties of central Michigan and also some reports from the Upper Penninsula and Wisconsin.

Rarely seen in migration, it has been recorded by 2003 that 30 birds were found on the island of Eleuthera, 75 miles east of Nassau in the Bahamas, preferring the scrub habitat, which consists of a spiny poisonous plant.

Feeding mostly on insects, it also will eat pine sap and blueberries.

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