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![[Birds of Louisiana]](LOSgraphics/barbirdsofla.gif) |
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get the BIG picture © Tom Finnie |
| Prothonotary Warbler |
| Protonotaria citrea |
Beginners in bird study often look with disfavor on the name of this bird; they find it difficult to spell, to pronounce, and to understand. Actually, however, the title Prothonotary (pronounced pro-thon'-o-ta-ry) possesses the same high degree of distinction and appropriateness that we recognize in the name of the Northern Cardinal. For centuries of ecclesiastical history, the prothonotary, who is legal advisor to the pope, has worn yellow vestments, as the cardinals have worn red. When the Creoles of Louisiana found in the swamps of our state a bird that wore a similarly resplendent golden surplice, they had the inspiration to call it the "prothonotary" -- or, at least, so the story goes. At any rate, the Prothonotary Warbler has ever since occupied its fitting position in the world of southern swamp birds as a properly sanctified associate of the Northern Cardinal. How colorless and unimaginative in comparison is the name Golden Swamp Warbler, which some people would like to use in place of Prothonotary! It tells us nothing we do not already know the moment we see the bird, and, while it is perhaps desirable that many names should be of this purely descriptive sort, it is certainly refreshing to find an occasional one that widens our horizons by providing a challenge to our intellectual curiosity.
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The species is everywhere in Louisiana an abundant denizen of swampy places and is, therefore, a bird with which nearly every fisherman of our swamp lakes and bayous is familiar. Although it sometimes comes up into our gardens to nest in bird boxes or gourds, it never strays far from water and normally builds its nest in a hole in a stump standing in water. The male of the species is unquestionably one of our most attractive birds. Its golden yellow head and yellow underparts contrast with its yellowish green back and bluish wings and tail. The outer tail feathers have a considerable amount of white that is often flashed when the bird is excited. The female, though somewhat duller in plumage, closely resembles the male. The Blue-winged Warbler is descriptively similar, but its much smaller bill, narrow black line through the eye, and white wing bars are all points that it does not share with the Prothonotary Warbler.
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The song of the Prothonotary is a loud, ringing peet, tweet, tweet, tweet that reverberates through the swamps from the time of its arrival in mid-March until late summer. Southward migration begins in September, but the bird's departure from the state is not normally completed until the end of October. An occasional individual sometimes remains until well into November, but the only winter record is that of one seen by Marshall and Grace Eyster at Lafayette on December 25, 1950. The three to eight beautiful rose-tinted eggs are liberally blotched with chestnut-brown, intermingled with blotches of gray or lavender.
--George H. Lowery, Jr., 1974, Louisiana Birds
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| Birds of Louisiana-- more photos of Louisiana birds by LOS members accompanied by Lowery's accounts from Louisiana Birds. |
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The LOS website currently has space online for photographs, field notes, identification discussions and general messages regarding the birding activities of LOS members. Fine quality photographs are also being solicited for the BIRDS OF LA webpage. For information regarding graphical submissions, send an e-mail to DJL AT DJLphoto.com.
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  WHAT'S NEW INSIDE |
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 LOS NEWS- Spring 2012 issue. |
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| LOS SPRING MEETING- information and registration form. |
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| Louisiana Winter Bird Atlas |
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2011-2012 LA Western Winter Hummingbird Weekly Report # 24 (120424) compiled by Erik Johnson
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| LA CBC results - edited by Marty Floyd and Megan M. Smith |
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| 2011 LOS Award Presentation Photos |
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| Official Louisiana Field Check-list - April 2011. |
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| 2011 Louisiana Review List |
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| Text message LA rare bird alerts to LOSRBA. |
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| The Louisiana Parish Checklist Project - a project undertaken by Rosemary Seidler to produce a checklist for each of Louisiana?s 64 parishes. |
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| All-time highest individual U.S. counts from LA CBCs and from 110th CBC |
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| A Review: Florida Bird Species: An Annotated List -- Implications for Louisiana's Avifauna. - by David Muth (from JLO Vol.3 No.1, 1995).
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| WHOOPING CRANES IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA - by Gay Gomez (from JLO, Winter 2001). |
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| The Alternate Plumage of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird- by Dittmann and Cardiff. (From ABA Birding.) |
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Recent Louisiana Rarities |
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| Publication Guidelines -- Journal of Louisiana Ornithology |
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| America's Wetland Birding Trail - Loops, sites, descriptions and directions. |
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| Bird Louisiana - a bird festivals website. |
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| GUIDELINES FOR LOS GRANT REQUESTS |
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| Banding Red-tailed Hawks - notes and photos of field trip led by Bill Clark. Submitted by Dave Patton. |
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| 100 years of CBC results -- from National Audubon Society. |
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Voices From Our Past
Stephen Russell, LOS President in 1963 and 1964, recently donated a near complete set of LOS News dating back to issue No. 17, published in November 1958. Thanks to Dr. Russell, past articles and issues of particular interest can now be posted on the LOS website.
"Birding on an Oil Production Platform" by Brent Ortego, from issue No. 78, published 15 July 1977.
"The Demise of the Brown Pelican in Louisiana" by Donald Norman and Robert D. Purrington, from issue No. 55, published 15 August 1970.
"The Louisiana State List" by George H. Lowery, Jr., issue No.56, published 30 October 1970.
"The Big Gulf Watch" by Robert J. Newman, issue No.33, published 05 June 1963.
"The Nesting of Cliff Swallows" by Marshall B. Eyster, issue No. 90, published 01 October 1980.
"The LOS Yard Lists, 1991" by John Sevenair, from issue No. 146, published 02 April 1992.
A Late Fall Pelagic Bird Survey off Western Louisiana, Part II by Steven W. Cardiff, from issue No. 146, published 02 April 1992.
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| click image for high resolution version |
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| NOAA Hurricane Satellite -- shows conditions in Yucatan and Central America |
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| Satellite Image of Gulf of Mexico |
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| New Orleans Nexrad
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| Lake Charles Nexrad
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| Gulf of Mexico Rain Image |
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Gulf of Mexico Radar Summary Image
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| More Weather Links |
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 Spain 2003 -- video captures by Mark Swan. |
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 Costa Rica 2002 -- photos from Costa Rica by David J. L'Hoste. |
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 Ecuador 2001 -- photos from Galapagos Islands and Ecuador by David J. L'Hoste. |
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 -- Birds of Puerto Rico
by Mark Swan. |
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![[Hummungbirds]](./LOSgraphics/barhummer.gif){kind=small}
