Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

"B" is for Bachman Warbler

South Carolina from A to Z logo

  "B" is for Bachman Warbler. The Bachman warbler is a small brightly colored bird whose history is closely tied to the Palmetto State. The Reverend John Bachman discovered the species in 1832 on the Edisto River, a few miles north of Jacksonborough. In 1833, John James Audubon painted a male and named the species after his friend Bachman. Once common and widespread throughout the southeast, the warbler inhabited the edges or open interiors of swamps—usually nesting in thickets of canes or brambles. By 1900 the species had become rare, perhaps due to extensive destruction of hardwood swamps for agriculture. At the same time, large areas of the warbler's wintering grounds in Cuba were destroyed. South Carolina naturalist John H. Dick made the last acceptable sighting in 1958. No Bachman's warblers have been found on territory since 1961. 

Stay Connected
Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.