The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is recruiting Internet users to track waves of brilliantly colored North-bound warblers moving across Florida and the rest of the nation.
Simply log on to Warbler Watch (http://birdsource.cornell.edu) and report your warbler sightings on the scroll-down form. That information will help the Ithaca, N.Y.-based lab and National Audubon Society build an online archive of their whereabouts and the movement of 51 species of North American wood-warblers during their spring migration. Many warblers, which start leaving their winter homes in early April, are already winging across the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, both key flyways. The tiny songbirds travel in huge mixed-breed flocks that can include as many as 8,000 birds and likely will reach their breeding grounds by mid-May. ``Florida should really be seeing a lot of activity now'' for warbler migration, said Allison Wells, spokeswoman for the Cornell Laboratory. Warblers are easy to locate by sight and sound. They are popular for their bright and even dazzling color combinations of yellow, blue, red, green, black and white.
They also are quite vocal during migration. Their songs range from musical trills and rich warbles to thin high-pitched ringing, Wells said. Some are endangered, like the golden-cheeked warbler, which only breeds in old-growth woodlands of the Edward's Plateau in central Texas.
Floridians should be able to see black-throated blues, palm warblers, prairie warblers and common redstarts among other species, Wells said.
Visitors to the Warbler Watch site will find regularly updated animated maps showing which warbler species are being reported and where.
Warbler Watch follows the Great '98 Backyard Bird County, a similar Internet census conducted by Cornell and National Audubon during the winter. As many as 14,000 people reported sightings of a half-million birds during the three-day event in February.
Those logging on to Warbler Watch will be asked for information such as the numbers and kinds of species they saw, signs of breeding they may have noted and their state and ZIP code.
In return, the site allows birders to follow warbler wanderings, which could aid bird-watching outings and offer tips on how to identify and watch warblers. It also provides information on their conservation status and species range maps.
There is another way to reach Warbler Watch: the National Audubon Society's home page (http://www.audubon.org). It contains a link to the site.
The Cornell Laboratory can be reached at 800-843-2473. The institution is dedicated to the study and conservation of birds worldwide and runs research and educational programs.