[cobirds] Wilson Warblers-Crow Valley-CG

Hi all

While birding for two hours this morning, I detected 30 migrating Wilson's Warblers. The vast majority were seen in thickets, not so much in the trees. So did I see all the Wilson's Warblers in the campground? Most likely not. Given the inventory of thickets in the region, could I reasonable assume I only saw about half of the actual number—most likely so.  The Wilson Warbler's breeding range stretches from the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, although the warbler is more common in the west than in the east.  Since I was only in the region for two hours, what could this information mean towards calculating the total population for this warbler. Since the campground is just a mere speck in the totality of the warbler's migrating range and just a moment in time, would it be reasonable to assume the total population for the warbler to be in the millions, hundreds of millions or……?

Given the above example, what would others estimate Wilson's Warbler total population to be?

Bob Righter

Denver CO