Biologists document oldest recorded Kentucky Warbler

An Alabama state biologist recently recaptured a male Kentucky warbler he originally released in 2010 when it was 2 years old. That makes the bird at least 11 — the oldest Kentucky warbler (Geothlypis formosa) ever recorded, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory. Biologist Eric Soehren was at the Wehle Land Conservation Center banding station when he captured the bird and recognized the number on its tarnished leg band. The age of the warbler is even more impressive because of the long distances it migrates, he said. “They face many perils migrating between sites, often to reoccupy the same small patches of territory at both ends of the spectrum,” Soehren said in a press release.

Read more about the warbler here.