Friends of Murphys Point Park

This elegant gray warbler with a striking yellow wing and cap is one of the more special birds we have in the park. They are a declining species at risk and found in old fields with shrubby habitat, like what you find around Lally. If you are near Lally field at the right time of year you may hear it’s high-pitched buzzy song and if you’re lucky you may even catch a glimpse of one! A cool fact about this bird is that they are genetically 99.97% overlapping with Blue-winged Warbler. Despite looking very different, where the ranges overlap, these species hybridise and create distinctive hybrids. We had at least two hybrid pairs in the park in the summer of 2023.

This bird is one of the many beautiful ducks of Canada and should just be arriving here this time of year on their breeding grounds where they will make their nests in trees. Wood Ducks are one of the easier ducks to identify because they have a unique shape with a boxy head on both the male and females and a bright colourful head and body on the males. The bill of the males is red, white, black and yellow and the rest of the face is glossy green with stark white patterning. Not only are these birds stunning, they also are very interesting nesters. Wood Ducks nest near water in cavities high up in trees, and when the eggs hatch the ducklings need to jump down and walk to the water. This sounds like no big deal, but the nests can be over 20m above the ground! It’s a good thing chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and are fluffy and small enough to break their fall!