Virginia's Warbler

Vermivora virginiaeOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Codes: Common Name: VIWA Scientific Name: VERVIR ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178864

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Overview

Virginia's Warbler: Small warbler, gray upperparts, yellow rump. Throat is white with yellow patch, breast and undertail are yellow, sides and belly are white with a gray wash. Head has rufous crown patch, bold white eye-rings. Named for the wife of the army surgeon who discovered it in New Mexico.

Range and Habitat

Virginia's Warbler: Breeds from southeastern California, southern Idaho, and northern Colorado south to Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include scrub oak and other chaparral, pinyon-juniper brushlands, and pine and oak woodlands.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

Sings a 2-part song of slurred notes that sounds like chee-wee, chee-wee, chee-wee, cheeah, cheeah, chee.

Interesting Facts

Despite what its name may suggest, Virginia's Warbler is not named after the state of Virginia, which makes sense as the birds range only reaches as far east as the state of Texas. The bird was named for Virginia Anderson, the wife of an army surgeon who discovered the bird in New Mexico in 1858.

When Spencer Fullerton Baird of the Smithsonian Institute described the bird for science in 1860 he honored the wishes of the warbler's discoverer and designated Virginia to be both the birds’ common and scientific name.

Their habitat is threatened by many factors, including road construction, invasion of non native plant species and wildfires.

A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including "a bouquet of warblers", "a confusion of warblers", "a fall of warblers", and a "wrench of warblers."

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Virginia's Warbler

● Song: Sings a 2-part song of slurred notes that sounds like chee-wee, chee-wee, chee-wee, cheeah, cheeah, chee.

● Foraging & Feeding: Virginia's Warbler: Diet consists mostly of insects. Forages on the ground, in foliage, or catches insects in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Virginia's Warbler: Three to five brown flecked, white eggs are laid in a loosely built cup nest on the ground. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Virginia's Warbler: Lucy's Warbler lacks white eye-ring, yellow rump, and undertail coverts. Nashville Warbler has more yellow on underparts and more olive on upperparts. Colima Warbler is larger and darker, and its range is restricted to a small area in Texas.

Flight Pattern

Weak flight on rapidly beating wings.

● Range & Habitat: Virginia's Warbler: Breeds from southeastern California, southern Idaho, and northern Colorado south to Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include scrub oak and other chaparral, pinyon-juniper brushlands, and pine and oak woodlands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America