Kirtland’s Warbler is among North America’s rarest birds. Fewer than 2,000 are known, the breeding range for all of them restricted to 13 contiguous counties in central Michigan. That was the case until this summer when they were found at several Wisconsin sites, including one in Douglas County, immediately southeast of Duluth, and another in Jackson County, about an hour’s drive east of Winona.  Researchers, who were looking for the birds, found seven singing males in Adams County. This site is two counties north of Dane County, where Madison is located. Five nests were made at the Adams County sites. Two clutches of five birds were hatched. Four singing males Kirtland’s Warblers were found in Marinette County, which borders Michigan. The species was seen or heard at three sites in Vilas County (bordering Michigan), and three more in Jackson County. A singing male was found in Bayfield County, in northeastern Wisconsin. The Douglas County bird was seen at close range on July 9 when it responded to a recording of its call.  Kirtland’s have been seen in Wisconsin before these sightings. For years there have been rumors and stories of individual birds found, with any information on locations always withheld. When I lived in Burnett County, Wisconsin, in the late 1990s, I chased some of those rumors. My rewards were pleasant mornings walking in jack pine forests.It seems unlikely that almost 30 Kirtland’s Warblers, male and female, suddenly showed up in northern, eastern, and western Wisconsin — boom — this summer. It’s much more likely that the birds have gone unnoticed until seen last May when organized efforts were made to find more. Counties with suitable habitat were chosen for the search.Is anyone looking for them over here? Some members of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, by the way, got to see one of the birds, a singing male. A special trip was limited to 72 people, participants chosen by a drawing. It is planned to repeat the trip in 2009. (Information for this came from the Fall/Winter 2008 issue of the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative newsletter, Lynn Ratkowski editor.)   Â

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