Blackpole Warbler Song =

Every fall these tough little birds embark on an incredible trip to North and South America. During fall migration, most black-poles travel through the northeast US and eastern Canada, so birds from as far away as Alaska have already traveled across the entire continent just to reach the northeast, a distance of roughly 3000 miles.

They gather on the coast, where they spend a couple of weeks fattening up for the next leg of their trip. During this time, they virtually double their weight, going from a lean half-ounce to a relatively portly full ounce.

When wind conditions are right, the black-poles take off in the evening, head southeast and fly straight out over the north Atlantic Ocean. They maintain a northwest bearing until they approach the Tropic of Cancer, where the prevailing tradewinds deflect them toward the South American mainland. Depending on where they left North America, this distance is between 1500 and 2000 miles. It can take up to 88 hours- yes, that's three and a half days- over the ocean, nonstop, without eating.

The shortest black-pole warbler flight would be perhaps 2200 miles, from New England to northern Venezuela, but the furthest a black-pole might travel is some 6500 miles, between western Alaska and northern Bolivia.