Secor Metropark is hosting a rare and colorful visitor this winter that’s making regular visits to the Window on Wildlife.
A Pine Warbler is thumbing its nose at the notion that all warblers migrate much further south to avoid winter. Insects dominate their diets and, well, they’re much easier to find where winters are warmer.
The thing about Pine Warblers is that, while insects are a big part of their diet, they also eat fruits, nuts and seeds. They may be the only warbler that visits backyard feeding stations to feast on high protein natural foods such as sunflower seed and suet. Those are the foods this visitor is relying on to survive the winter.
“A Pine Warbler is a rare but not wholly unexpected winter visitor,” said Jay Wright, Metroparks director of conservation science.
Elliot Tramer, a retired professor of biology at the University of Toledo and a co-author of “Birds of the Toledo Area,” calls the warbler “a rare winter visitor. We’ve had one visit our backyard feeder during just three of the 28 winters we’ve lived near Oak Openings, so it’s a notable happening.”
Pine Warbler is a name they come by honestly. According to the Ohio Division of Wildlife, the birds “are always found around pine trees, and even migrants will forage in conifers if they are available.”
Northwest Ohio doesn’t see many Pine Warblers in any season, even though they have a summer presence in southern Ohio, and are occasionally observed in the Oak Openings pine plantations.
