A Winter Warbler Surprise

When Hermit Warblers arrive in our neighborhood to breed each spring, we always have the darnedest time seeing them. The males prefer to stick to the tip-tops of the tall conifers, their presence generally undetected if not for the frequent broadcasting of song. Even less often do we glimpse a female, as they remain quiet while collecting nesting material high in the dense trees.
 
So, imagine our elation when we discovered a Hermit Warbler wintering around the house, sometimes viewable at eye-level!
 
We first spotted this bird on November 24 from our living room couch, when it landed momentarily on a redwood branch outside the window. The quick flash of yellow struck us as somehow different from an expected Townsend’s Warbler, so we slipped quietly onto the balcony to track the bird and spotted the unexpected warbler in our tanoak.
 
A few days later we noticed it again at the top of the tanoak, and worked hard to photograph it through the leaves.

Over the next week, each time we noticed the usual mixed flock of Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Townsend’s Warblers, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Dark-eyed Juncos foraging near the house – the Hermit Warbler was there in the mix!
 
Then, some time passed without a sighting. We had seen a Townsend’s Warbler interact a couple times with the Hermit Warbler in a possibly aggressive manner. We worried that the Townsend’s may have permanently chased the Hermit out of the loose flock.
 
But then on December 19, after two weeks of not spotting it, the Hermit Warbler reappeared in the tanoak and gave us the most wonderful views out in the open.

We stood still, just 10 feet away, while the bird remained on this sunny branch for minutes. Though it looked directly at us a couple times, it seemed more concerned with warming up while scanning its surroundings for predator danger. We couldn’t believe our good fortune to experience this close encounter!
 
In the video below, watch as the perched Hermit Warbler rests, ever-alert. We love how you can see it breathing.

 
We’ve learned the best time to spot our new neighbor is between 2 and 3 PM, when the low winter sun directly illuminates the tanoak. While the chickadees bop around the middle of the tree and the juncos prefer the top, the Hermit Warbler often appears in this lower, sunniest level – where we sometimes even get views from above. What a difference from our neck-breaking viewing attempts during spring.

The range maps from All About Birds and the Sibley Guide indicate the Hermit Warbler is technically year-round in a small area encompassing coastal Bay Area. Still, they’re a rare sight during winter here in Sonoma County – some winters passing without any eBird records reported.
 
It’s difficult to tell if this is an adult female or a hatch-year bird. Either way, is it a bird that was here in the general area earlier this spring? Or, is this is a bird from up north that decided along its southern migration to stop here for the winter? We wish it could tell us!
 
Each spring, we’re used to hearing the Hermit Warbler’s song. Listen below to an example we recorded last year.

In winter though, we only have the Hermit Warbler’s chip note to help locate it by, and its chip note is incredibly similar to that of the Townsend’s Warbler, making things rather difficult. Here’s another video of the Hermit in our tanoak from a different angle – listen at 0:26 seconds for several chip calls.

 
We feel super lucky this bird decided our neighborhood was a good place to set up shop for winter, and even luckier that it likes our tanoak. We cherish the time we’ve spent observing it already, and we sure hope it stays all season!