About our birds!

Myrtle Warblers (Setophaga coronata coronata), migrate shorter distances than many of the other species passing through Block Island in the fall, and winter farther north than any other wood warblers (Place and Stiles, 1992) . Last fall, we successfully caught, manipulated the condition, and tracked Myrtle Warblers while they were on stopover on Block Island. 

Red-Eyed Vireos (Vireo olivaceus) are long-distance migrants that regularly stopover on Block Island during the fall, and migrate overland until they reach the Gulf of Mexico, allowing vireos to stop multiple times as they travel south (Parrish et al., 1997; Callo et al., 2013). In contrast, after leaving Block Island in the fall, Blackpoll Warblers make a journey out across the open ocean for 3-5 days of non-stop flight before reaching a wintering destination in the Caribbean or South America (DeLuca et al., 2015). Finally, Hermit Thrushes are medium distance migrants that travel from Block Island to winter in the southern United States and Central America (Smith and McWilliams, 2014). These additional species of birds will allow us to compare how important condition is for birds with different migration strategies (land-based vs. over the sea) and migration distances (short to long).

Although primarily insectivorous during the breeding season, these species shift to a fruit-rich diet in late summer . Fruits are an excellent source of fats and carbohydrates for birds to rebuild fuel stores, and, are a source of dietary antioxidants (Alan et al., 2013; Bolser et al., 2013; Thompson and Willson, 1979). Although all four species consume fruits, only the Myrtle Warbler consumes bayberry (Myrica cerifera) over other fruits because only they can digest its waxy esters (Place and Stiles, 1992).