New-tropical Migrants [Poem]
Chestnut-sided Warbler
New-tropical Migrants
We have always seen warblers
as brilliancies of the North Woods:
lemon yellow of Black-throated Green
flame wings and tail of American Redstart
But the Redstart is Cuba’s “Little Candelita,”
the Black-throated Green flies his colors from Ecuador
Our boreal yellows, reds, blues are tropical,
burnt orange of Blackburnian,
orange-red of Bay-breasted
What do we send back?
Blackburnian with only the yellow,
Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Pine we can not tell apart – –
“Confusing Fall Warblers.”
Color them up, we say.
Paint back the cheeks and flanks of Chestnut-sided,
brighten back the pigments of Black-throated Blue
Send these warblers back.
On the Big Day in May
in Sugar Maple and Tamarack
we will check off glories of the rain forest
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 