A Feeding Flock of Pine Warblers
On my way back toward home, two Northern Flickers flew up from a grassy yard into a tree as I got close, flashing white rump patches, and I heard the chatter of one Ruby-crowned Kinglet from some shrubs, the only one I heard all morning.
As I came to the top of a hill, in a stretch lined with pecan trees arching overhead on both sides of the road, dozens of small birds were foraging along the roadside and out in the road – feeding there on crushed pecans. A surprising number of these small birds were colorful yellow Pine Warblers. I counted at least twelve. This is the first year I can ever remember seeing so many of them at once – though maybe I’ve just overlooked them in the past, because species accounts mention that in the winter Pine Warblers from further north join resident Pine Warblers here in the south and sometimes move together in flocks of 100 or more. I have not seen such large flocks, but this winter have seen two or three dozen almost daily, usually foraging in grassy yards and along the roadside like this with Yellow-rumped Warblers, Eastern Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows and House Finches. Though they join the other small birds, the Pine Warblers seem to stay more or less together.
Unlike the Bluebirds – whose flashy color always seems to catch the eye, especially on sunny days – the yellow of the Pine Warblers somehow doesn’t seem obvious, so when I take a closer look through binoculars at what appears to be a bunch of grayish little birds, the sudden burst of sunshine-yellow often comes as a nice surprise.