Larry Walkinshaw studied endangered Kirtland’s Warblers since 1931, the same year that Greater Sandhill Cranes joined his birding agenda. His infatuation with them was as intense as for cranes. Some of his mystique toward Kirtland’s probably resided in his being the first to band one. And as with cranes, no one else could find their nests as readily as he. Once Roger Tory Petrson came to Michigan looking for them, but without succes. Peterson wrote Larry, “Next time I try to find Kirtland’s Warblers, I am going to get in touch with you…” Larry discovered over 340 Kirland’s nests by 1988.

Another Kirtland’s ‘first’ for Walkinshaw involved the male pictured above, the first one found in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near Gwinn of Marquette County in 1983 . Only a few Kirtland’s had moved away from Lower Michigan as their population began to expand. Walkinshaw found this one within five minutes. “He sang all day, 6, 7, 7, 6, 7, 6 times per minute, stopping periodically to get some larvae. His territory was about 358 ft. long and 250 ft. wide. He had several favorite singing branches” on jack pine trees according to Larry’s notes of infinate detail.

Interestingly, only male Kirtland’s Warblers sing their highly distinctive song. So distinctive in fact that hearing them, even without visual conformation, was employed by Harold Mayfield, Walkinshaw, and others to document about 300 surviving pairs in 1974… their lowest ebb. These and a myrid of other adventures in Michigan and in the Bahamas - the Kirtland’s winter home - led Walkinshaw to publish two definitive volumes on them. The one pictured below, published in 1983, was followed by “Nest Observations of the Kirtland’s Warbler - A Half Century Quest” appearing in 1988. Both chronicle species saving events.

The picture shown with the Kirtland’s Warbler discussion at Wikipedia is one of Walkinshaw’s - although not acknowledged as such. To access this Kirtland’s life cycle and recovery program discussion click HERE.