Figure 374. The only Lanceolated Warbler recorded in North America outside of western Alaska was this first-fall bird present on 11 and 12 September 1995 on Southeast Farallon Island. It was photographed there on the day of its discovery (1996-014; Brett Walker).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANCEOLATED WARBLER Locustella lanceolata (Temminck, 1840)

Accepted: 1 (100%)	Treated in Appendix H: no
Not accepted: 0	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 0	Color image: none

This usually inconspicuous species breeds from northwestern Russia east through Siberia to Kamchatka and south to northeastern China and northern Japan (Brazil 1991). The wintering grounds stretch across Southeast Asia to the Philippines and parts of Indonesia, and vagrants wander widely across the Old World (e.g., this species is found almost annually among the British Isles, mainly in September and early October; Vinicombe and Cottridge 1996). The species has twice reached Alaska’s Attu Island in spring/summer, including a remarkable incursion of at least 25 individuals between 4 June and 15 July 1984 (Tobish 1985).

A first-fall Lanceolated Warbler banded and photographed on Southeast Farallon Island, 11–12 September 1995, represents the New World’s only record outside of western Alaska (Hickey et al. 1996; Figure 374). This record occurred in the wake of prolonged northwesterly winds during a fall when several very rare Asian passerines were recorded in California and Baja California, including the Arctic and Dusky Warblers, Northern Wheatear, Stonechat, and Eastern Yellow and White Wagtails.

Other Locustella warblers, especially Middendorff’s Grasshopper-Warbler (L. ochotensis), could possibly reach California. Some members of this genus can be difficult to distinguish from each other; see Alström (1987), Lewington et al. (1991), Leader (1994), and Hickey et al. (1996) for detailed information.