When Do The Warblers Arrive?
An article all about Warbler Migration in Ontario!
When do they come, when do they leave, and where can I find them?
Warbler migration in Ontario is one of the most exciting natural phenomena in the province, and a time marked out on every birder’s calendar! This amazing natural feat is one of the most thrilling migrations on the planet, and The Great Lakes area is the best place to be to see it.
From the first raspy trill of a Yellow-rumped Warbler to the flash of a Blackburnian’s throat high in a spruce, spring warbler migration is fast-paced, visually dazzling, and fleeting. These tiny, often brightly coloured songbirds travel thousands of kilometres from their wintering grounds in Central and South America, pausing in Ontario’s forests, wetlands, and woodlots to rest and feed before moving on to northern breeding grounds.
When Do They Arrive?
The first warblers to arrive in Southern Ontario are often the most understated. Yellow-rumped Warblers, Palm Warblers, and Pine Warblers are hardy species that can handle cooler weather and appear as early as mid-to-late April. They’re the warm-up act! The teaser before the real avian explosion.
Peak warbler migration usually hits in early-to-mid May, depending on the weather. If you’re out birding between May 8th and May 20th, this is when you’re most likely to encounter the greatest diversity and numbers of warblers.
This is the golden window for spotting:
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Yellow Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Black-throated Green and Blue
- Cape May, Bay-breasted, and American Redstart
Some mornings during peak migration, it feels like every branch is moving. Warblers flit through the trees in mixed flocks, chasing insects, singing, and flashing their colours. It’s not uncommon to see a dozen species in a single patch of forest, especially if the weather has paused migration and birds have “fallen out” in large numbers.
While many warblers are already pushing north by late May, a few notable species show up on the later side of the season. These include:
- Mourning Warbler
- Canada Warbler
- Wilson’s Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
- The elusive and much-sought Connecticut Warbler
These birds often breed farther north or require specific conditions before moving through. If you’ve missed the early action, don’t worry. Late May and even early June can still deliver fantastic sightings, especially in the boreal-leaning parts of the province.
To help keep track of who arrives when, here’s a handy timeline graphic that maps the general arrival windows for Southern Ontario’s most common warblers:
Where Can I Find Them?
Warblers breed in different areas based on their needs and adaptations, but let’s start with migration and when they first arrive in the province. After crossing Lake Ontario or Erie, these birds are tired and hungry. They flit around desperate to refuel and tolerate the amazed on-lookers that have travelled to come see them.
During migration, your best bets are:
- Wooded ravines and urban parks (Toronto’s High Park, Ottawa’s Mud Lake)
- Forest edges and shrubby fields
- Lakefront parks and peninsulas like Point Pelee, Long Point, Rondeau, Prince Edward Point, or Tommy Thompson Park.
If you’d like to travel further afield, some of the places outside of Ontario that also have incredible warbler activity include:
- Magee Marsh, OH
- Point Mouillee, MI
- Presque Isle, PA
These spots act like migration magnets. If you’re in the right place on the right morning, it can feel like warblers are dripping from the trees and you won’t know which way to point your bins or your camera. But you have to act fast! Soon they will travel to their breeding grounds and the leaf cover will make them harder to see.
If you would like to learn more about the arrival, peaks and activity of wildlife in Ontario on a week-by-week basis, we have an awesome Ontario Nature Calendar that is available to Friends of The Channel.
Where Do Warblers Breed?
Many of the Warbler species found in Ontario are on their way to boreal forests further north, but others stay to breed in the south. Warblers have evolved various specialisms in how they forage, what they eat and where they build their nests. This means that different species can be found in different habitats and different regions of the province.
Below, we have provided Friends of the channel an extremely helpful chart which lists every breeding warbler species in Ontario (including very rare ones like Kirtland’s Warbler). It tells you what region of the province you can find them in (with colour coding) and it describes their preferred habitat.
Join The Hide here or log in to gain access.
Birding Checklist of Breeding Warblers of Ontario
Below, we have a downloadable, printable and reviewable checklist that Friends of The Channel can use to help track down EVERY warbler species that is known to breed in Ontario. That includes rare species that we haven’t already mentioned – like the Kirtland’s Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler and more.
Friends of the Channel can download the file here:
Join The Hide here or log in to gain access.
Watch Us Bird During Migration
Wanna see what it’s like to go birding at Point Pelee and the local area during peak migration? We went in 2024. Although it wasn’t a bumper year, you can watch our video here:
