Pennsylvania Game News - April 2016 - c

golden-wings, Vermivora chrysoptera,
had genetic evidence of post hybridization with blue-winged warblers, V.
pinus.
The only solution to that problem
seems to be targeting "landscapes
with expansive forest cover at higher
elevations" for golden-wings, which
will keep them away from the lowerelevation-breeding blue-wings, or so
the researchers hope. They have been
managing tracts already on both private
and public lands in Pennsylvania with
some success.
For instance, Larkin, in 2009,
thinned shrubs and trees from an overgrown old field at Bald Eagle State Park
and golden-wings returned.
Several game lands also are being
managed, not only for golden-wings,
but a large number of other species dependent on similar habitat - American
woodcock; ruffed grouse; willow and
alder flycatchers; yellow, prairie, blackand-white, Canada, chestnut-sided
and hooded warblers; yellow-breasted
chats; gray catbirds; eastern towhees;
common yellowthroats; indigo buntings; and field and song sparrows.
Our First Field hosts at least eight of
those species.
When the JVAS visited State Game
Lands 322 in Huntingdon County in
mid-May along a large power line rightof-way managed for golden-wings, the
habitat seemed perfect with numerous
scrub oaks and bush blueberries.
We heard and saw 26 bird species, including three singing prairie
warblers, a yellow-breasted chat, five
chestnut-sided warblers, two gray
catbirds, five eastern towhees, and numerous indigo buntings, field sparrows
and common yellowthroats. But not one
golden-winged warbler was detected
APRIL 2016	

after a couple hours of walking slowly
and listening.
Then we visited a JVAS member's
property where she said they had golden-wings every spring. As soon as we
exited our cars next to a wet area that
was not managed, we heard a singing
golden-wing. We never saw the elusive
bird or any others on this property,
much to our disappointment.
In Pennsylvania, breeding male
golden-wings arrive in the first week
of May two to seven days before the
females, and they sing their primary
song. They quickly pair up after the
females arrive, and she chooses the
nest site, which is usually at the base
of leafy material, such as wild berries
or goldenrod. Sometimes they include
a taller, thicker stem that supports the
leafy material and allows the adults to
grip when they arrive at a nest.
I remember stumbling on a nest at
the Far Field thicket back on June 1,
1996. Mayapples blanketed this relatively open, wet area. A pair of loudly
singing golden-wings flew close, and
down low in the thicket a pair of Kentucky warblers distraction-displayed
and called.
As I retraced my steps back through
the mayapple area, a golden-wing flew
up from the ground. Almost immediately I saw her nest made of dead oak
leaves on the outside and lined with
grapevines and grasses. Not wishing
to attract predators, I never revisited
the site.
I read that females build their nests
in one to three days. Their clutches contain four or five eggs and are incubated
solely by the females for 11 days. Both
parents feed their young while they
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - April 2016
