Connecticut warbler

Oporornis agilis

Photo by Robert Royse (Robert Royse's Bird Photography)

Common name:

Connecticut warbler (en); mariquita-do-connecticut (pt); paruline à gorge grise (fr); chipe de Connecticut (es); augenring-waldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Parulidae

Range:

The Connecticut warbler breeds in a narrow band across Canada from south-western Northwest Territories east to western Quebec and, in the United States, in northern Minnesota,

Wisconsin, and Michigan. They migrate south to winter inthe Amazon River basin, from Colombia to Brazil.

Size:

They are 13-15 cm long and have a wingspan of 22 cm. They weigh 15 g.

Habitat:

Connecticut warblers breed in spruce and tamarack bogs, and sometimes in open poplar woodlands. During migration and winter they are found in a variety of forest, woodland, scrub and thicket habitats.

Diet:

These birds are mostly insectivorous, eating various small insects, as well as spiders and snails. They also eat berries and seeds.

Breeding:

Connecticut warblers breed in June-July. They build an open cup of fine, dry grasses, dry leaves, stalks of weeds, sedge stems, rootlets, or other plant fibres, hidden on or near ground, in thick undergrowth of saplings, among thickets or at base of a scrub. The female lays 3-5 creamy-white eggs with dark speckles, which she incubates alone for 12-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents, fledging 8-10 days after hatching. Each pair raises a single clutch per year.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range and a global population size of 1,2 million individuals. The population has undergone a small increase over the last 4 decades, not being considered threatened at present.