Kirtland's Warbler

Kirtland's warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii), also known in Michigan by the common name jack pine bird, or the jack pine warbler, is a small songbird of the New World warbler family (Parulidae), named after Jared Potter Kirtland, an Ohio doctor and amateur naturalist. Nearly extinct just 50 years ago, populations have recovered due to conservation efforts. It requires large areas, greater than 160 acres (65 hectares), of dense young jack pine for its breeding habitat. This habitat was historically created by wildfire, but today is created through the harvest of mature jack pine, and planting of jack pine seedlings. The population of the species spends the spring and summer in their breeding range in Ontario, Wisconsin or Michigan, especially the northeastern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and winters in The Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands.