Crescent-chested warbler

Parula superciliosa

Photo by Raul Padilla (Bird Forum)

Common name:
crescent-chested warbler (en); mariquita-de-peito-manchado (pt); paruline à croissant (fr); chipe pechimanchado (es); schmuckwaldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This species is found in Central America, from northern Mexico to Nicaragua.

Size:
These birds are 10,5-12 cm long and weigh 8-10 g.

Habitat:
The crescent-chested warbler occupies humid to semi-humid pine-oak forest, oak, and oak-evergreen forests, at altitudes of 900-3.500 m.

Diet:
They mainly feed on insects, but will also take fruits and berries.

Breeding:
Crescent-chested warblers are monogamous and breed in April-July. The nest is a cup made of green moss and lined fine plant fibers, grass stems, and hair, which is placed on top of a grassy tussock or on a bank near the ground. There the female lays 2-3 white eggs, which she incubates alone for 12-14 days. The chicks are fed by both sexes and fledge 8-10 days after hatching. Each pair raises 1-2 broods per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 50.000-500.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

Palm warbler

Dendroica palmarum

Photo by Guy Poisson (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
palm warbler (en); mariquita-das-palmeiras (pt); paruline à couronne rousse (fr); reinita palmera (es); palm-waldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This species breeds in northern North America, from northern Canada to the northern United States in Minnesota, Wyoming, Michigan and Maine. They migrate south to winter along the pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States, along the Gulf coast into Texas and also in the Caribbean as far south as Puerto Rico and along the Atlantic coast of Central America from southern Mexico to Panama.

Size:
These birds are 12,5-14,5 cm long and weigh 9-11 g.

Habitat:
The palm warbler breeds in open bogs bordered by coniferous forests, mainly spruces and tamaracks. They prefer bogs covered by Sphagnum mosses, sedges and other aquatic plants. Outside the breeding season they are found in a variety of habitats including grasslands, scrublands, swamps and marshes, savannas, mangroves, pastures, rural gardens and urban areas.

Diet:
They mainly forage on the ground, but in the foliage and take insects in flight. Their main prey include grasshoppers, beetles, flies, bugs, butterflies, moths, wasps, bees and ant larvae. Outside the breeding season they also eat berries, seeds and nectar.

Breeding:
Palm warblers are monogamous and breed in May-July. The nest is a cup made of weed stalks, grasses, sedges, bark shreds, rootlets and ferns, placed on moss-covered ground, usually at the base of a small tree near the margins of a bog. There the female lays 4-5 creamy-white eggs with brown markings, which are incubated by both parents for 12 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 12 days after hatching. Typically they raise a single clutch per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 23 million individuals. The population has undergone a large increase of 45% per decade over the last 4 decades.

Prairie warbler

Dendroica discolor

Photo by William Hull (Mango Verde)

Common name:
prairie warbler (en); mariquita-da-pradaria (pt); paruline des prés (fr); chipe galán (es); rostscheitel-waldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This species is found breeding in southern Ontario, Canada, and across the eastern United States from Maine to Michigan and Iowa, and south to the Gulf coast from eastern Texas to Florida. The population in Florida is resident, but all others migrate south to winter in the northern Caribbean, as far south as Montserrat, and along the Atlantic coast of southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and northern Nicaragua.

Size:
These birds are 10-12 cm long and have a wingspan of 18-19 cm. they weigh 6-9 g.

Habitat:
They are mostly found in dry scrublands and along forest edges, but also in rural gardens. The resident population in Florida prefers mangroves. They occur from sea level up to an altitude of 1.200 m.

Diet:
They mainly feed on insects, including caterpillars, moths, tree crickets, lacewings, bugs, beetles, aphids, leafhoppers and grasshoppers, and also spiders and millipedes. Sometimes they also take berries and tree sap.

Breeding:
Prairie warblers nest in loose colonies and males can mate with several females. They breed in May-July  and the nest is an open cup made of plant down and lined hairs. It is placed low in a tree or scrub, usually less than 3 m above the ground. The female lays 2-5 pale brownish or grey eggs with brown spots, which she incubates alone for 11-15 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 8-11 days after hatching, but only become fully independent 4-5 weeks later.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least  Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 1,4 million individuals. The overall population seems to be stable or only slightly decreasing, but significant declines were reported along the western parts of their breeding range, mostly due to habitat loss caused by human development and afforestation.

Bay-breasted warbler

Dendroica castanea

Photo by Brian Small (Lananhbirds Club)

Common name:
bay-breasted warbler (en); mariquita-de-peito-castanho (pt); paruline à poitrine baie (fr); chipe castaño (es); braunbrust-waldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This species is found breeding in central and eastern Canada, and across the border into the north-western United States. They migrate along the eastern half of North America and Central America to winter in northern Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean.

Size:
These are 14 cm long and have a wingspan of 20-22 cm. They weigh 10-17 g.

Habitat:
Bay-breasted warbler nest in open boreal forests, especially spruce and fir either in pure stands or mixed with clumps of aspens, birch and balsam poplar. During winter they are found in tropical moist forests and second growths.

Diet:
They mainly feed on caterpillars, particularly spruce budworms Choristoneura sp., but also take adult insects, spiders and fruits during winter.

Breeding:
Bay-breasted warblers nest in a small cup made with dried grass, stalks, mosses, roots, twigs, lichens, insect and spider webs. The nest is lined with strips, hair of rabbit and plant down and placed in a spruce, birch, hemlock tree or even in scrubs, 4-12 m above the ground. The female lays 4-7 white or creamy eggs with dark spots, which she incubates alone for 12 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 10-11 days after hatching, but continue to be fed by the adults for several days.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 3-3,5 million individuals. the population has undergone a small decline over the last 4 decades, possibly as result of spraying for spruce budworms. Loss of wintering habitat may also be a problem.

Red-faced warbler

Cardellina rubifrons

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

Common name:
red-faced warbler (en); mariquita-de-faces-vermelhas (pt); paruline à face rouge (fr); chipe cara roja (es); dreifarben-waldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This North American species is found breeding in northern Mexico and in Arizona and New Mexico, United States. Some population migrate south to winter in southern Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Size:
These birds are 14-15 cm long and have a wingspan of 19-21 cm. They weigh 8-11 g.

Habitat:
They breed in high elevation coniferous forests, mainly Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, and Ponderosa pine, especially where small groves of deciduous trees such as oak, maple, or aspen grow among the conifers. In winter they are found in pine, alder and oak forests. These birds occur at altitudes of 1.500-3.100 m.

Diet:
These birds are insectivorous, mostly eating caterpillars, but also some adult insects.

Breeding:
Red-faced warblers nest on the ground, in an open cup built by female using dry leaves, conifer needles, grasses, weeds and bark, and lined with plant fibres and hairs. It is well hidden at base of scrub, rock, grass tuft, tree trunk, or under a log. There she lays 3-6 white or pinkish-white eggs with fine brown speckles, which she incubates alone for 11-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 11-13 days after hatching. The fledglings are then split between the two parents, each taking care of half the chicks for another 4-5 weeks.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 400.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction, but the red-faced warbler is not considered threatened at present.

Golden-winged warbler

Vermivora chrysoptera

(Photo from Bornanews)

Common name:
golden-winged warbler (en); mariquita-d'asa-dourada (pt); paruline à ailes dorées (fr); chipe de alas doradas (es); goldflügel-waldsänger (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae


Range:
This species breeds in south-eastern Canada and in the north-eastern United States. It migrates south to winter in Central America and in northern Colombia and Venezuela.


Size:
The golden-winged warbler is 12-14 cm long and has a wingspan of 19-21 cm. These bird weigh 8-11 g.


Habitat:
These birds breed in open woodlands, patchy scrublands and along forest edges and clearings. They are also found in in marshes and tamarack bogs. During winter they are found in the canopies of tropical forests.


Diet:
They forage by probing and picking among foliage, taking various insects and spiders. Caterpillars and adult moths are an important part of their diet.


Breeding:
Golden-winged warblers breed in April-July. The female builds the nest, an open cup made of leaves, grapevine bark, and grass, lined with fine plant material. The nest is placed on the ground, at base of scrub or in a tussock of grass or sedge, usually hidden by foliage. The female lays 3-7 pale cream or pink eggs with brown streaks, which she incubates alone for 10-11 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 8-9 days after hatching, but continue to receive food from parents for another month. Each pair raises a single brood per year.


Conservation:
IUCN status - NT (Near-threatened)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 210.000 individuals. The population has undergone a large decline of 22% per decade over the last 4 decades, mostly caused by advancing succession and reforestation, and the invasive range expansion of blue-winged warbler Vermivora pinus. Other possible causes of population declines are loss of wintering habitat through agricultural expansion and clearance for plantations, nest parasitism by brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater and hybridisation with Vermivora pinus.

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.