Open fires are prohibited throughout the park from midnight to 4 p.m. through April 30 per the 4 p.m. Burning Law. This includes wood and charcoal. Gas is permissible. Campground fires are allowed during the restricted time if a camp host is on duty and signage to that effect is posted in the campground. Failure to observe the 4 p.m. Burning Law can result in a fine. Contact the Park Office for additional information.

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Wobblers

By Guest BloggerPosted May 23, 2020

 

Shared by Monica Hoel, volunteer blogger for Hungry Mother State Park, as Guest Blogger.

We have a friend who is a wonderful wildlife expert, but we tease him about the way he says “warbler.” It sounds like “wobbler.” Last week I was excited describing a bird I had seen in my backyard and realized I was saying “wobbler.” I quietly told myself to emphasize the “R” but that was even more awkward as I suddenly sounded like I was in my high school French class -- trying too hard and still getting it wrong.

So I did a little reading about warblers to see what other word I might use, and I found a bunch of new words I couldn’t pronounce. 

 

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

 

Warblers are colorful little songbirds that live in North and South America, and some make a long journey from south to north in order to breed. Their spring passage through the United States peeks around April and May, which means that right now we are likely to see some bird friends in our yards that we don’t normally see. They are far more colorful on the spring migration than in the fall when they are headed back south.

The warblers we see passing through my region (Southwest Virginia, near Hungry Mother State Park) are considered New World Warblers or Wood Warblers. In the animal kingdom, they are in the family perulidae (when you’re bored, check out ornithologist Alexander Wetmore who made this assignment). There are more than 100 species of warblers and they are passerines -- which means they have 4 toes, 3 that face forward and 1 that faces back. 

 

American Redstart

American Redstart Warbler

 

They have exotic names like Prothonotary, Cerulean, and Blackburnian. And they have names that should make it easier to distinguish their characteristics...but these names mostly make my head spin: Black-Throated Blue, Black-Throated Green, Yellow-Rumped, Yellow-Throated, American yellow, and just Yellow!

Even though many have a lot of color, they are tiny birds, with small wings, and short-ish beaks and wispy, sweet songs that are not likely to rival or rise above those loud Red-Winged Blackbirds and Carolina Wrens. If you’re listening for them, keep an ear out for a little whistle that sounds unlike anything you’re used to hearing.

 

Pine Warbler

Pine Warbler

 

I used to visit a friend in a retirement home that had an aviary in the lobby. Cute, bright, colorful birds darted around the enclosure, and I would spend so much time staring and smiling that I worried I might be ready for The Home myself. That’s kind of what it’s like to get a glimpse of a warbler or two on their passage through. They’re so tiny and fast that if you see one, you feel like you’ve had an encounter with an exotic and magical world.

And really….you have.

Check out the array of New World Warblers at allaboutbirds.org and you can find even more in depth information at Birds of the World (which I used for this article). All photos courtesy of Katie Cordle.


 

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If you have read the article and have a question, please email nancy.heltman@dcr.virginia.gov.

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