Range and Ecology
Their breeding range is in a very limited area in the north of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. They then come to southern Ontario. In recent years, breeding pairs have been found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario likely due to the rapidly expanding population. Breeding habitat is typically large areas (> 160 acres) of dense young jack pine (Pinus banksiana). Kirtland's Warblers occur in greatest numbers in large areas that have been clearcut or where a large wildfire has occurred. The birds leave their breeding habitat between August and October and migrate to The Bahamas and nearby Turks and Caicos Islands; they return to Michigan to breed again in May. In their winter habitat, they have been found primarily in scrub habitat, feeding on wild sage, black torch, and snowberry.
Kirtland's Warblers forage in the lower parts of trees, sometimes hovering or searching on the ground. These birds eat insects and some berries, also eating fruit in winter. For breeding they require stands of young (4 to 20 year old, 2–4 m high) Jack Pine trees. They nest on the ground. Their nest is usually at the base of a tree, next to a down log or other structure, and is well concealed by sedge, grasses, blueberries and other ground vegetation.
Read more about this topic: Kirtland's Warbler
Famous quotes containing the words range and, range and/or ecology:
“During the cattle drives, Texas cowboy music came into national significance. Its practical purpose is well known—it was used primarily to keep the herds quiet at night, for often a ballad sung loudly and continuously enough might prevent a stampede. However, the cowboy also sang because he liked to sing.... In this music of the range and trail is “the grayness of the prairies, the mournful minor note of a Texas norther, and a rhythm that fits the gait of the cowboy’s pony.””
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time, and is both the free and compacted composition of all.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“... the fundamental principles of ecology govern our lives wherever we live, and ... we must wake up to this fact or be lost.”
—Karin Sheldon (b. c. 1945)