Palm Warbler Dendroica palmarum
- IdentificationVisual tips about this species
- BehaviourHabitat, behaviour, and food
- PopulationSubspecies and numbers
- ReproductionNesting and eggs
Identification
Often appears rather dull and brown but adults of the eastern race have yellow underparts, heavily streaked with rufous. Birds of the western race are duller, grayish-brown below but have the same distinctive rufous crown in the breeding season. In other plumages, they can look very dull so the most striking feature is usually the neat yellow area on the under tail coverts, distinguishing them from all other dull brown warblers. They also have white spots in the outer tail and an obvious pale supercilium (yellow on birds of the eastern race).
Voice
Its song is a rapid trill that is reminiscent of the songs of the Chipping Sparrow and Junco.
Length
5.5in
Migration
Migrates across the Gulf of Mexico, winters in southeastern United States, Mexico, the West Indies and Central America. Spring movement is primarily from late March through April. The fall movement is from late August through October.
Habitat
A ground-feeding warbler that doesn't rely only on insects for food, it is one of the earliest migrants to arrive in Canada in the spring. It breeds in sphagnum bogs with scattered conifers, and in the dry pine barrens of the boreal forests, it also nests on the ground, one of only two species in its genus to do so.
Food
Insects, spiders, berries and seeds.
Population trends
The population is stable.
Where in US
The eastern race winters in the Gulf states and migrates east to the Atlantic coast, before turning north to New England and southeastern Canada. The western race winters in Florida and the West Indies and migrates in the other direction, crossing paths with the eastern race, traveling west, and then north through the Mississippi Valley to central Canada.
Nests
The nest is either on the ground on sphagnum moss under a grass tuft, or in a small spruce less than 4 feet up. It is a cup of grasses, bark shreds, weed stems and plant fibers, lined with feathers. Several pairs may nest in close proximity.
Eggs
4-5 eggs, white to creamy-white, speckled and spotted with brown. Single-brooded.
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