Prothonotary Warbler

Male Prothonotary Warbler on territory, Big Woods, Arkansas, 13 April 2005.

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Prothonotary Warbler, female

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Habitat
6. Conservation Status
7. Other Names

A brilliant yellow-orange bird of southeastern wooded swamps, the Prothonotary Warbler is a striking sight.

Cool Facts

• The Prothonotary Warbler is one of only two warbler species that breed in holes. (Lucy's Warbler is the other.)
• Go here to take a look at what goes on inside a Prothonotary Warbler nest, through the help of a Nest Box Cam provided by The Birdhouse Network at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• The name "Prothonotary" refers to clerks in the Roman Catholic church, whose robes were bright yellow.

Description

• Large warbler, small songbird.
• Head and chest deep yellow, almost orange.
• Eyes black. Back greenish.
• Wings gray and without wingbars.
• Belly and undertail white.
• White spots in tail.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, but female slightly duller and less golden.

Immature

Immature like adult, but duller and more greenish on back and head.

Sound

A loud, ringing "tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet" all on one pitch.

Range

Range Map

© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds from southern Minnesota and southern Ontario southward to central Texas and Florida.

Winter Range

Winters in Central and South America.

Habitat

Breeds in wooded areas near water, especially flooded bottomland hardwood forests, cypress swamps, and along large lakes and rivers. Winters in mangrove swamps and coastal tropical forests.

Conservation Status

Breeding populations highly localized because of extreme habitat specificity, and are vulnerable to habitat destruction. Considered endangered in Canada.

Other Names

Paruline orangée (French)
Chipe dorado, Reinita Calecidorada (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Petit, L. J. 1999. Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea). In The Birds of North America, No. 408 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.