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[Ecoprov.]

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Elevation range: 42 - 1694 m Conserv. status: Not at risk Global importance of B.C. population: 6

Number of squares Confirmed Probable Possible Point counts 35 52 354 229 Long-term BBS trends Region Years Trend (conf. interv.) Reliab. Brit. Col. 1970 - 2012 -0.938 (-4.37 - 3.09) Low Canada 1970 - 2012 -5.16 (-9.09 - -1.13) Low

Characteristics and Range "Can you hear it?" is a question asked by bird-watchers with acute hearing who encounter singing male Blackpoll Warblers on their breeding grounds. This delightful songster has one of the highest frequency songs known among birds (DeLuca et al. 2013). It tests birders' hearing abilities across the species' range from coast to coast, in North America's boreal, taiga, and northern coniferous forests. This black-and-white warbler with bright orange-yellow legs can also be a challenge to see: pinpointing its location is difficult as it forages in the branches of spruce trees. Birds breeding in Alaska and northern British Columbia undertake the longest migration of any North American warbler, heading east to Atlantic Canada and then south over the Atlantic Ocean to the wintering grounds in South America, a journey of up to 8,000 km (DeLuca et al. 2015).

Distribution, Abundance, and Habitat The Blackpoll Warbler is widely distributed across central and northern British Columbia, with southern extensions to that distribution along the Rocky and Coast mountains. Compared to The Birds of British Columbia published in 2001, the Atlas greatly increased the number of observations in northern and central British Columbia, filling gaps in known distribution, yet the overall provincial range remains the same.

This warbler is found throughout coniferous forests, with the majority of observations and highest abundance between 750 and 1,250 m. Highest abundance and Probability of Observation values coincided with northern spruce (Picea) forests of the Spruce - Willow - Birch biogeoclimatic zone in the Northern Boreal Mountains, Engelmann Spruce -Subalpine Fir and Sub-Boreal Spruce biogeoclimatic zones of the Sub-Boreal Interior, and locally in the western Chilcotin Plateau (Central Interior) and Cariboo Mountains (Southern Interior Mountains) ecoprovinces. In these broad climate-vegetation types, it occupies spruce - alder (Alnus) - willow (Salix) thickets (DeLuca et al. 2013), and is considered a characteristic species of White Spruce (Picea glauca) and Black Spruce (Picea mariana) in the western Boreal Forest (Campbell et al. 2001). DeLuca et al. (2013) also note that it is found in Tamarack (Larix laricina).

Conservation and Recommendations Up to 75% of Blackpoll Warblers spend the breeding season in Canada (DeLuca et al. 2013). Yet, despite being one the most common birds in its breeding range, little is known about its breeding ecology or population trends. Breeding Bird Survey trends across Canada and British Columbia show long-term declines but the trends have low reliability (Environment Canada 2014) due to the majority of routes being conducted south of the species' core breeding range. Increasing timber, oil, and natural gas extraction is impacting some Boreal Forest bird populations, contributing to long-term declines of Blackpoll Warblers (NABCI-U.S. 2014).

Christopher Di Corrado

Recommended citation: Di Corrado, C. 2015. Blackpoll Warbler in Davidson, P.J.A., R.J. Cannings, A.R. Couturier, D. Lepage, and C.M. Di Corrado (eds.). The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of British Columbia, 2008-2012. Bird Studies Canada. Delta, B.C. http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=BKPW&lang=en [17 Sep 2024]