Mourning Warbler
Geothlypis philadelphia
Some birds are born to wander. Because Mourning Warblers require brushy habitats and immature woodlands, they will leave a region they may have used for 5 to 10 years because the trees have reached a stage of maturity that is no longer suitable for their purposes.
These birds leave their winter homes in the tropics of Central America, and northwestern South America, to breed in North America, where their range stretches from northeast British Columbia and Alberta through the Great Lakes region of Canada and the USA, and continues to Canada’s Maritime Provinces and the northeastern USA.
Mourning Warblers are monotypic (i.e. there are no recognised subspecies).
South Padre Island provided me with my first and best meetings with Mourning Warblers during my visit in the spring of 2021 and then again in the fall of 2022. Earlier in the spring of 2022, I had a brief meeting with one of these birds along the AlCan Highway in British Columbia. I found them to be another tricky bird to photograph, because of their tendency to remain near the ground in thick understory. Research shows they also love to place their nests on the ground in concealed locations.
18 Photos

Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Before this day, I’d never met the Mourning Warbler. It was a bright Sunday on South Padre Island, and I stayed over 9 hours. I started the morning with an hour at Sheepshead Sanctuary and drove to the Convention Centre for the rest of the day, and met a couple of birds new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:02 16:08 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/90 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_D5X5186_SPI-ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Before this day, I’d never met the Mourning Warbler. It was a bright Sunday on South Padre Island, and I stayed over 9 hours. I started the morning with an hour at Sheepshead Sanctuary and drove to the Convention Centre for the rest of the day, and met a couple of birds new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:02 16:08 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/125 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_D5X5192_SPI-ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Before this day, I’d never met the Mourning Warbler. It was a bright Sunday on South Padre Island, and I stayed over 9 hours. I started the morning with an hour at Sheepshead Sanctuary and drove to the Convention Centre for the rest of the day, and met a couple of birds new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:02 16:08 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/125 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_D5X5196_SPI-ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Before this day, I’d never met the Mourning Warbler. It was a bright Sunday on South Padre Island, and I stayed over 9 hours. I started the morning with an hour at Sheepshead Sanctuary and drove to the Convention Centre for the rest of the day, and met a couple of birds new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:02 16:09 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/60 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_D5X5228_SPI-ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Mourning Warblers in eastern North America are like their western counterpart, the MacGillivray’s Warbler. Their paths overlap as they pass through south Texas on their way north. Tuesday’s birds at South Padre Island (Texas) were all great birds for me, but most of us at the Convention Center expected overnight north winds to provide a feast on Wednesday for interested birders. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:04 15:32 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_D5X5842_SPI-ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Mourning Warblers in eastern North America are like their western counterpart, the MacGillivray’s Warbler. Their paths overlap as they pass through south Texas on their way north. Tuesday’s birds at South Padre Island (Texas) were all great birds for me, but most of us at the Convention Center expected overnight north winds to provide a feast on Wednesday for interested birders. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:04 15:32 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_D5X5854_SPI-ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: I met Mourning Warblers at Taylor Landing. It was good practice to compare them with the similar-looking MacGillivray's Warblers that were also present. I fell in love with the Boreal Forest that lined the Peace River next to the Alaska Highway during my north-bound journey a month earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:28 13:16 |
Location:
Taylor Landing |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8505964-TaylorLanding.BC_ |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is only a few miles north of South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast. Migrating birds, such as this young Mourning Warbler, pass through here each spring and fall. |
Date Taken: 2022:08:30 9:37 |
Location:
Laguna Atascosa NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/250 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8506281-LagunaAtascosa |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is only a few miles north of South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast. Migrating birds, such as this young Mourning Warbler, pass through here each spring and fall. |
Date Taken: 2022:08:30 9:37 |
Location:
Laguna Atascosa NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/250 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8506284-LagunaAtascosa |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is only a few miles north of South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast. Migrating birds, such as this young Mourning Warbler, pass through here each spring and fall. |
Date Taken: 2022:08:30 9:38 |
Location:
Laguna Atascosa NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/200 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8506291-LagunaAtascosa |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is only a few miles north of South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast. Migrating birds, such as this young Mourning Warbler, pass through here each spring and fall. |
Date Taken: 2022:08:30 9:40 |
Location:
Laguna Atascosa NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/400 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8506311-LagunaAtascosa |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: This immature female Mourning Warbler on South Padre Island confused me for a while. I couldn’t quite make her fit the image of either the Nashville Warbler or a MacGillivray’s Warbler. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:15 11:19 |
Location:
South Padre Island Covention Cen |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8502718-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Male Mourning Warblers are distinctive. With their slate-colored hoods and dark eyes and no eye-ring, they are not easily confused with other warbler species visiting South Padre Island. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:12 15:18 |
Location:
Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/125 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8502364-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Male Mourning Warblers are distinctive. With their slate-colored hoods and dark eyes and no eye-ring, they are not easily confused with other warbler species visiting South Padre Island. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:12 15:17 |
Location:
Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/100 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8502334-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Male Mourning Warblers are distinctive. With their slate-colored hoods and dark eyes and no eye-ring, they are not easily confused with other warbler species visiting South Padre Island. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:12 15:17 |
Location:
Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/100 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8502331-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: Male Mourning Warblers are distinctive. With their slate-colored hoods and dark eyes and no eye-ring, they are not easily confused with other warbler species visiting South Padre Island. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:12 15:17 |
Location:
Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/100 |
File Name: MourningWarbler_8502328-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: This immature female Mourning Warbler on South Padre Island confused me for a while. I couldn’t quite make her fit the image of either the Nashville Warbler or a MacGillivray’s Warbler. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:12 16:01 |
Location:
Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/160 |
File Name: MourningWarbler.Imm_.Fem_8502530-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Mourning Warbler(Geothlypis philadelphia) |
Description: This immature female Mourning Warbler on South Padre Island confused me for a while. I couldn’t quite make her fit the image of either the Nashville Warbler or a MacGillivray’s Warbler. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:12 15:56 |
Location:
Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/100 |
File Name: MourningWarbler.Imm_.Fem_8502504-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |

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