Palm Warbler

Dendroica palmarum

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family PARULIDAE

Menu

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

The rusty-capped Palm Warbler can be most easily recognized by the tail-wagging habit that shows off its yellow undertail. It breeds in bogs and winters primarily in the southern United States and Caribbean.

Cool Facts

• The Palm Warbler is found in two different forms. Birds that breed in the western part of the range are duller, and have whitish bellies. Those breeding in the eastern part of the range are entirely yellow underneath.
• Despite its tropical sounding name, the Palm Warbler lives farther north than most other warblers. It breeds far to the north in Canada, and winters primarily in the southern United States and northern Caribbean.

Description

• Size: 12-14 cm (5-6 in)
• Wingspan: 20-21 cm (8-8 in)
• Weight: 7-13 g (0.25-0.46 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Brownish back.
• Chestnut cap.
• Bright yellow undertail.
• Constantly wags tail.
• Underparts yellow or yellowish.
• Faint streaks on sides.

• Throat yellow.
• Belly yellow or whitish.
• Yellow eyeline.
• Dark stripe through eyes.
• Yellowish rump.
• Stripes on chest may be reddish.
• White spots at corners of tail.
• Bill black, paler at base of lower mandible.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs and feet blackish.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar.

Immature

Similar to adult.

Similar Species

• Prairie Warbler also wags tail, but lacks a rufous cap, has bold dark streaks on sides, has yellow spectacles, a greenish back, and reddish streaks on back.
• Rare Kirtland's Warbler also wags tail, but has gray face and back, white wingbars, white undertail, and lacks eyestripes.
• Yellow Warbler is only other warbler with red streaks on chest, but it lacks a rusty cap and a dark eyestripe.
• Cape May Warbler does not have yellow undertail and does not wag tail.
• Yellow-rumped Warbler does not have yellow undertail and does not wag tail.

Sound

Song a weak trill. Call a thin "tsip" or a sharp "chip."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds across Canada from Northwest Territories to Newfoundland, southward to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Maine.

Winter Range

Winters along Pacific Coast of United States and southeastern United States, the Yucatan, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Habitat

Breeds in bogs, open boreal coniferous forest, and partly open situations with scattered trees and heavy undergrowth, usually near water. Found in migration and winter in a variety of woodland, second growth and thicket habitats, on the ground in savanna and open fields, and in mangroves.

Food

Insects; some seeds and fruits in fall and winter.

Behavior

Foraging

Feeds on the ground and in short shrubs and trees. Forages in open grassy areas in winter.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Open cup of weed stalks, grass, sedges, bark shreds, rootlets, and ferns, lined with fine grasses, bryophytes, and occasionally hair and feathers. Placed in sphagnum moss at base of short tree.

Egg Description

Creamy white with dark speckles around large end.

Clutch Size

4-5 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Populations appear stable.

Other Names

Paruline à couronne rousse (French)
Chipe playero (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Wilson, W. H., Jr. 1996. Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum). In The Birds of North America, No. 238 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.