Tennessee Warblers in breeding plumage are noticeably grayer (less greenish) than fall birds. Note the aberrant feather sticking out of this bird’s deformed left wing. The "fall warblers" are one of the classic identification challenges for North American birders, perhaps immortalized best by Roger Tory Peterson's compilation plates of "confusing fall warblers". I decided to post this sighting on the TN-Bird List (sponsored by the TN Ornithological Society), along with a fall warbler sighting. Their plumage is rather plain but their incessant tail-bobbing is only duplicated by the Prairie Warbler (with a surprisingly similar distribution). But that wasn't the only magic that happened. Fall Migration Path Southward across the eastern United States into . The Cape May Warbler is usually present in the state from late April to mid-May and then again from mid-September to mid-October. The breeding range of the Tennessee Warbler extends from coast to coast in the forests of Canada, barely grazing the U.S. in Minnesota and New England. Fall: Most fall Tennessee Warblers have little contrast between the head and back, and some are yellower below. The differences are not as pronounced between them and Tennessee Warblers. (And according to Peterson's field guide, this is year-around plumage.) We speak here of calling autumn migrant parulids "confusing fall warblers," giving some folks an excuse for NOT identifying similar but nonetheless unique warbler species. In fall, the plumage is more similar to a Philadelphia Vireo but, again, note the thin, sharply pointed bill and smaller size. Black-throated Blue Warbler: Yellow-rumped Warbler, fall plumage: Palm Warbler, fall plumage: Yellow Warbler (male) Common Yellowthroat (female) Yellow Warblers: Common Yellowthroat singing in ash tree: Yellow-rumped Warbler, breeding plumage: Blackpoll Warbler: Blackpoll Warbler: Yellow-rumped Warbler (juvenile) Yellow-rumped Warbler (juvenile) The Palm Warbler is a fairly common migrant in East Tennessee; in Middle and West Tennessee it is uncommon in spring and rare in fall. In Spring, the male Tennessee Warbler, with its plain olive upperparts, gray crown, white supercilium and plain white underparts resembles a miniature Red-eyed Vireo but note its thinner, pointed bill and dark eye. Confusion with vireos is also possible, but note the warbler’s thin, sharply pointed bill. Political buffs, don’t go there…) Tennessee Warbler females are green as a gourd, lacking the gray head of the males. Note that the fall plumage image here shows an immature bird, but it displays ... Tennessee Warbler. The Tennessee Warbler's song is long and has three parts, sounding like thucka-thucka-swit-swit-swit-swit-chew-chew-chew-chew. Look how all those colors blend to make her practically disappear! However, despite the large number of species involved overall, the situation need not be as daunting as it sometimes seems. Vocalizations. Central America and northwestern South America.