Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)

Abundance: Uncommon during spring and Rare during fall; recorded in 24 Regional counties, 9 in Kentucky and 15 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to reliably determine a trend in the population migrating through the Region but suggest that the trend is negative during spring (see also Regional Bird Monitoring Plan).

Status: Transient during spring and fall (5 records), but usually absent during the latter season; photograph (see link below).

Regional High Count and SBC/SBB High Count: 65 (7–8 May 1966; Cumberland County, Tennessee [SBC—a 2-day "count"]; m. ob); Next Highest Regional High Count and SBC/SBB High Count: 57 (9 May 1998; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.).

Information on Fall Records:

1 October 1992 (1) City Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Stedman 2003).

29 September 2004 (1) Oil Center, Lake Cumberland WMA, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2005a).

18 October 2005 (1) Cathy Crockett Trail, Daniel Boone National Forest, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2006a).

14 September 2010 (1) Fairfield Glade, Cumberland County, Tennessee (John Cyrus [from Carver County, Minnesota] pers. com.—good details, including observation of streaked sides, whitish vent, and sharper bill than that of Bay-breasted Warbler).\

12 October 2011 (1—basic) Mt. Zion, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Spring: x (

    Fall: 14 September 2010 (Cumberland County, Tennessee; John Cyrus)–18 October 2004 (Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton).

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 30 April, while spring departure usually complete by 15 May; data from fall are too few to estimate dates by which migration is usually widespread or usually complete. Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported spring departure, as well as earliest reported fall arrival and latest reported fall departure, for the migration seasons 2002–2011 follow:

Habitat: Forages in a wide variety of forest types (and other habitats) during migration but perhaps more likely to be found in forests with a component of evergreens than in forests without such a component.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 3 (of 125 possible) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 4 (of 206 possible) check-lists during 2004, leading to a YardWatch frequency classification of Rare during each year; this classification indicates a lesser likelihood of encountering this species in Regional yards and neighborhoods during spring than in the Region as a whole; during fall the Blackpoll is unrecorded in the Region in most years.

Foray Results: A summary of data about late spring transients from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: Considered to be Rare during fall, the Blackpoll may be more abundant than that classification warrants during that season.  The basic plumage of Blackpoll Warbler is strikingly similar to that of Bay-breasted Warbler, perhaps causing this species to be overlooked during fall.  Careful attention to leg color and to the presence or absence of a flesh-colored patch along the flanks of fall "Bay-breasted Warblers" might reveal the Blackpoll to be more common Regionally during fall than is currently (December 2011) considered to be the case.  However, given the Blackpoll's typical southward migration path (over the Atlantic Ocean from New England to northern South America) during fall, it is unlikely that its fall abundance would change to an abundance classification higher than Very Uncommon.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited