Connecticut Warbler

Status Rare transient. Reports of a dead bird on Sable Island on 6 October 1901 (Bouteillier 1901) and a sighting there on 15 September 1907 have been questioned (e.g., by Godfrey [1966]), although they are seasonally plausible. Since 1956 there have been reports of 24 individuals. The first was a male studied on Bon Portage Island by Evelyn Richardson on 17 May 1956. Three other spring records include a male at Barrington, Shelburne County, on the unusual date of 12 June 1969, well documented by Mrs. Richardson, and an equally laggard female on Sable Island on 12 June 1975, photographed by Davis Finch. The others have been fall migrants, between 25 August and 20 October, all but two on Bon Portage, Brier, Cape Sable, Sable or Seal islands.

Remarks This bird breeds in west-central Quebec and beyond to the west, and migrates along the Atlantic coast, rarely north of New England. Mourning Warblers can be confused with this species (see Remarks under the Mourning Warbler). Connecticut Warblers are very shy and may easily slip through the province unnoticed.