Wilsonia pusilla

Went for an afternoon walk around Lake Chabot today and was fortunate to come across two male Wilson's Warblers flitting about in the cattails. They've probably recently returned from their wintering grounds somewhere in Mexico or Central America. The species' range extends up from the tropics into the western portion of the U.S. and Canada, where it breeds. Like other New World warblers, it eats primarily flies and other insects, but also sometimes nectar and small berries. You can tell the male from the female by that fine black cap on its head.

Wilson's Warbler is named after Alexander Wilson, a prominent Scotland-born American ornithologist from the early 1800's. Wilson is responsible for penning and beautifully illustrating American Ornithology, the first comprehensive study of American bird species ever compiled. In fact, his work greatly inspired the much better-known John James Audubon; American Ornithology pre-dates Audubon's Birds of North America by some 20 years. Also named for him are Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Wilson's Plover, and Wilson's Phalarope, as well as the genus to which the Wilson's Warbler belongs, Wilsonia.

The pair I spotted today were quite flighty and not particularly interested in being photographed; at least one of them yielded long enough for me to capture proof of my sighting. A lovely bird of a lovely color, I think.