Nashville Warbler

Vermivora ruficapilla

Order Passeriformes - Family Parulidae

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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 small, sprightly songbird of second-growth forests, the Nashville Warbler breeds in both north-central North America and an isolated portion of the mountainous Pacific Northwest. It nests on the ground and feeds almost exclusively on insects.

Cool Facts

• The Nashville Warbler sometimes uses porcupine quills as nest material.
• Most first-year Nashville Warblers migrate along the Atlantic coast, while adults tend to migrate along inland routes.

• The Nashville Warbler does not regularly breed near Nashville, Tennessee, but was first observed there in 1811 by Alexander Wilson, who named the species.

• The western population of the Nashville Warbler was once considered a separate species, called the "Calaveras Warbler." It is slightly brighter than eastern birds, with a brighter yellow rump, more extensive white feathers on the lower belly, and a slightly longer tail.

Description

• Size: 10-12 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 17-20 cm (7-8 in)
• Weight: 7-12 g (0.25-0.42 ounces)

• Medium-sized warbler.
• Gray head.
• White eyering.
• Plain olive-green back and wings.
• Yellow throat, breast, and belly.

• Sharp bill.
• Rufous crown patch, not often visible in the field.
• Eyes black.
• Feet black.
• No wingbars, tail patches, or tail spots.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar; female slightly duller.

Immature

Similar to adult, but with brownish wash to back and whitish throat patch.

Similar Species

• Tennessee and Orange-crowned warblers lack white eyerings.
• Virginia's Warbler has yellow only on the throat and vent, not on breast and belly, and has gray rather than green upperparts.
• Connecticut Warbler is much larger and heavier than Nashville, has a gray hood that extends all the way through the throat and upper breast, and is found primarily on the ground.

Sound

Song is loud and musical with a distinctive two-part pattern, with several two-note phrases followed by a trill. Call note is a dry chip.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeding range consists of two distinct areas. Eastern range extends from central Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia, southward to northern Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Western range extends from southwestern Alberta to central California.

Winter Range

Winters primarily in southern Mexico. Also found in winter in lowlands along the California coast.

Habitat

Second-growth deciduous or mixed forest with shrubby undergrowth.

Food

Insects and insect larvae.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans insects from the tips of branches and flower tassels of trees.

Reproduction

Nest Type

A neat cup of moss, bark, leaves, and grasses, lined with fine grass, pine needles, hair, or other fiber. Located on the ground under brushy vegetation or small trees.

Egg Description

White, usually specked with brown.

Clutch Size

Usually 4-5 eggs. Range: 3-6.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with some sparse dark brown down.

Conservation Status

Clearing of forested land may have benefited the Nashville Warbler by creating more of its preferred second-growth habitat.

Other Names

Paruline à joues grises, Fauvette à joues grises (French)
Reinita capigris (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Williams, J. M. 1996. Nashville Warbler (Vermivora ruficapilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 205 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and the American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.