Magnolia Warbler

Dendroica magnolia

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 Magnolia Warbler is a handsome and familiar warbler of the northern forests. Though it often forages conspicuously and close to the ground, we have relatively scant information on its nesting behavior.

Cool Facts

• Though it has very specific habitat preferences in the breeding season, the Magnolia Warbler occupies a very broad range of habitats in winter:  from sea level to 1,500 meters elevation, and most landscape types, except cleared fields.
• The name of the species was coined in 1810 by Alexander Wilson, who collected a specimen from a magnolia tree in Mississippi. He actually used the English name "Black-and-yellow Warbler" and used "magnolia" for the Latin species name, which became the common name over time.

• The male Magnolia Warbler has two songs. The first song, issued in courtship and around the nest, consists of three short phrases with an accented ending. The second song, possibly issued in territory defense against other males, is similar to the first but is sweeter and less accented.

Description

• Size: 11-13 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 16-20 cm (6-8 in)
• Weight: 6-15 g (0.21-0.53 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Yellow chest and throat.
• Black necklace and black stripes down sides.
• White wingbars or large white patch on wings.
• Gray crown.
• Yellow rump.
• Large white patch in black-tipped tail.

• Inner pair of tail feathers black, others with with large white patch and large black tip, forming a dark "T" shape.
• Tail from below appears white with black tip.
• White undertail.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs dark brown.
• Soles of feet yellow.

Sex Differences

Breeding male has a bold black-and-white facial pattern, wingbars fused into a broad white panel, and heavy black streaks down the sides and flanks. Female is duller, with mostly gray face and modest streaks on the sides.

Male

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Black mask, white eyebrow stripe. Conspicuous black band across the upper breast, with heavy black streaks on the sides, wide white wing-panels, and a black back. Rump yellow.
Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: Duller with reduced streaking, two white wingbars, and greenish back. Lacks black face mask; face gray with white eyering.

Female

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Gray face, white eyebrow stripe, modest black streaks on the sides, and thin white wingbars.
Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: similar to nonbreeding male, with an olive-tinged crown and less streaking.

Immature

Similar to nonbreeding adult, but without black streaking on chest. Olive-gray crown and upperparts. Throat, breast and belly yellow, with pale gray band across upper chest. Narrow white wingbars.

Similar Species

• Tail pattern is distinctive. Only American Redstart has a similar "T"- shaped pattern, and it has yellow or orange, not white, in the tail, and lacks yellow chest or streaks.
• Cape May Warbler has thinner streaks on chest, reddish, not black, in the face, and a duller yellow rump.
• Prairie Warber has green back and lacks black face mask.
• Canada Warbler has short black streaks on chest only, is all gray on back, and lacks wingbars.
• Nashville Warbler similar to immature, but lacks wingbars and tail pattern.

Sound

Song short and weak whistled, "weta, weta, WETA." Call a nasal "zic."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from Northwest Territories to Newfoundland, southward to central Alberta, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

Winter Range

Winters in southern Mexico, Central America, the Greater Antilles, and other islands in the Caribbean.

Habitat

Breeds in small conifers, especially young spruces, in purely coniferous stands or mixed forest.

Food

Insect larvae, adult insects, and spiders.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans insects primarily from the undersides of conifer needles and broadleaf foliage.

Reproduction

Nest Type

A loose cup of grasses on a foundation of twigs, lined with black rootlets. Usually located on a horizontal tree branch near trunk, less than 3 m (10 ft) from the ground.

Egg Description

White, with variable speckles or spots.

Clutch Size

Usually 4 eggs. Range: 3-5.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with tufts of black down.

Conservation Status

Populations increasing slightly throughout most of range.

Other Names

Paruline à tête cendrée (French)
Reinita Colifajeada, Verdin de los magnolias (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Hall, G. A. 1994. Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia). In The Birds of North Americaa, No. 136 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.