Warbler Walks
The Iowa City Bird Club’s annual Warbler Walks are held each spring in Hickory Hill Park in Iowa City, weekday mornings from 6:30 – 8:00 a.m. from late April to late May. This date range covers the peak of spring migration for warblers, flycatchers, vireos, thrushes, orioles, tanagers, and many other birds. Spring is also the time of year when many male birds sing and wear their bright breeding plumage. For these reasons it is the favorite time of year for many birders. Hickory Hill Park, with its dense forest and shrub habitat within a suburban landscape, is an ideal stopover site for migrants and is considered an eastern Iowa hot spot for warbler watching. Typically, 24 to 27 warbler species are found in the park each spring.
Birders of all experience levels are welcome on the walks — all you need is a pair of binoculars. Identifying small birds moving through the treetops can be a challenge, and these walks are a great way for beginners to learn from the experts. Our Warbler Walks are led by a group of experienced leaders including Mark Madsen, Jason Paulios, Dan Rose, Chris Edwards, and Elliot Stalter. We meet at the Hickory Hill Park north parking lot at the end of Conklin Lane, off N. Dodge Street in Iowa City. Daily results are posted on our website and Facebook page.
History, etc… Our first Warbler Walks were held in 2002, and for the first four years James Huntington was the sole leader and the number of walks was limited. Subsequently, Jim Fuller, Ken Lowder, and Chris Edwards became involved as leaders, and in 2011 the walks were expanded to the current late April to late May timeframe.
Warbler Walks summaries since 2007 are available below, and they are a great way to learn about the migration timing of all the warblers and many other species that pass through Iowa City each spring. Want to know which migrant warblers arrive first in spring? Hoping to see a rare Connecticut Warbler? Check the summaries to find the answers. Please note that prior to 2019, not all non-warbler species found on the Warbler Walks were recorded in the summaries, so they are not a complete record of all the birds found.
Our first Warbler Walks were held in 2002. For the first four years James Huntington was the sole leader, and the schedule was more limited than today. In subsequent years Jim Fuller, Ken Lowder, and Chris Edwards became involved as leaders, and in 2011 the walks were expanded to the current late April to late May timeframe.
We have Warbler Walks results summaries available since 2008, and they are a great way to learn about the migration timing of all the warbler species that pass through Iowa City each spring. Want to know which migrant warblers arrive first in spring? Hoping to see a rare Connecticut Warbler? Check the summaries to see what’s been seen in previous years.