With so much attention devoted to warblers these days, it might be worth reminding everyone of a growing miracle. An apparent hybrid northern parula X cerulean warbler returned this spring to the same Toledo spot for the *fourth* consecutive year. Rick Nirschl discovered this bird on 5/16/04; this year he noticed it on 4/24. Certainly it deserves the name some give it, "Nirschl's warbler," and a debt is owed to Rick and Brian Zwiebel and others who documented this phenomenon. More detail is in Rick's article in the Ohio Cardinal (Vol 27 #4, pp 164-168) and in pages of the late-lamented Birding News at http://www.ohiobirds.org/news.php?News_ID=97 http://www.ohiobirds.org/news.php?News_ID=88 Also interesting is news on a hybrid warbler discovered in New York last year (New York also had a "parulean" in 2004, by the way). DNA from this bird was examined in a lab, and you can look at photos of this bird to tweak out its parentage on your own, as well as peek at the answers provided by the genetic material, at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/mystery/ There are some interesting remarks about DNA testing and about hybrid birds in general. Might be fun to see if you can figure this bird out before looking at the answer. I imagine the survival of a hybrid warbler into its fifth year is pretty unusual. I also wonder if, having survived its perilous first year, the chance that such a bird might live into subsequent years increases, once it establishes and follows successful patterns (such as returning to Toledo every year). Wouldn't an experienced bird, having formed successful habits, be generally far more likely than others to survive any given year? Interesting stuff... Oh, yeah--does anyone know of an example of a hybrid wild bird producing offspring with a third species?? Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]