Kirtland's Warbler

Kirtland's Warbler male; Osceola Co., MI, June

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Kirtland's Warbler female at the nest with young; Osceola Co. MI, late June.

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A rare bird of the Michigan jack pine forests, the Kirtland's Warbler is dependant upon fire to provide the small trees and open areas that meet its rigid habitat requirements for nesting.

Cool Facts

• The Kirtland's Warbler requires areas with small jack pines for nesting. The jack pine requires fire to open its cones and spread its seeds. The warbler first appears in an area about six years after a fire when the new growth is dense and is about 1.5 to 2.0 meters (5.0-6.5 feet) high. After about 15 years, when the trees are 3.0 to 5.0 meters (10.0 to 16.5 feet) high, the warbler leaves the area.
• The female Kirtland's Warbler is more selective than the male in her choice of habitat, and the best areas attract more females than males. The last residents of a tract that is getting too old are always unmated males.

Description

• Size: 14-15 cm (6-6 in)
• Weight: 14 g (0.49 ounces)

• Small songbird; large warbler.
• Bluish gray face and back.
• Yellow throat, chest, and belly.
• Black stripes down sides.
• White crescents above and below eyes.
• Constantly pumps its tail.
• Two white wingbars.

• Black streaks on back.
• Wingbars thin.
• White spots on corners of tail.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, female paler and lacks black in front of eyes present on male.

Immature

Similar to adult female, but duller, and with black spotting across chest.

Similar Species

• Prairie Warbler also wags tail, but has yellow-green back and face.
• Palm Warbler wags tail, but has dull greenish gray back, rufous cap, and yellow undertail.
• Magnolia Warbler has large white areas in tail, bold wingbars, and a yellow rump.

Sound

Song clear and emphatic "chip-chip-che-way-o."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds only in northern part of lower peninsula of Michigan.

Winter Range

Winters in Bahama Islands.

Habitat

Breeds in scrubby jack pine. Winters in low scrub, thickets, and (rarely) deciduous woodland.

Food

Insects and small fruits.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages on ground and in midlevels of small trees, gleaning insects.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Open cup of grass, sedges, pine needles, and pieces of leaves, lined with rootlets, plant fibers, and hair. Placed in depression in ground, often with overhanging tuft of grass.

Egg Description

White or buff, with varying amounts of fine brown spots concentrated around large end.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Endangered species. Fire suppression led to decline in suitable habitat for nesting. Nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbird caused further decline in species. Extensive measures currently taken to provide adequate nesting habitat and to control cowbird numbers.

Other Names

Paruline de Kirtland (French)

Sources used to construct this page:

Mayfield, Harold F. 1992. Kirtland?s Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii).In The Birds of North America, No. 19 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists? Union.