Welcome to the Kirtland's Warbler GeoTrail (KWGT). This trail will take you in a loop in central Northern Michigan through the Jack Pine ecosystem, breeding home of the Kirtland's Warbler. This tour takes you to a total of 25 caches with an amazing trackable geocoin as a reward. The KWGT Passport can be downloaded here: https://f81c572e-1d95-4026-befc-8c60f69cbcd9.filesusr.com/ugd/31e003_41b2f3aa918442e8b08c880e746e6946.pdf
In 1841, the first Kirtland’s Warbler specimen was collected between Abaco, The Bahamas and Cuba by the Cabot/Catherwood expedition bound for the Yucatan. The specimen sat in the Smithsonian undescribed until 1865.
On May 13, 1851, an unknown specimen of bird was collected by Charles Pease on his father-in-law’s farm near Cleveland, Ohio. The farm was owned by Dr. Jared Kirtland, a renown natural history expert, who sent the specimen to Dr Spencer Baird of the Smithsonian. Dr. Baird named the bird after Dr. Kirtland, because to him “we are indebted for a knowledge of the Natural History of the Mississippi Valley." This was the “type specimen”, which is the specimen on which the description and name of a new species is based.
Cache
The 720 acre stand on the south side of the road at one point held over 10% of the entire population of Kirtland’s Warblers.