Visual Search | Wizard | Browse
Bird name:
Home| Search| Browser| Expert| Forum| Store| My WhatBird| Help| Site Map

Cape May Warbler

Dendroica tigrinaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)
Codes: Common Name: CMWA Scientific Name: DENTIG ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178887
Least Concern
 
Cape May Warbler
Copyright © 2004 - 2008 Whatbird.com






Rate this Illustration: Excellent Very Good Good
Fair Below Avg Poor

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips
Clingers Only Feeder
Weather resistant inexpensive feeder is ideal for small birds.
Suet Delight
Easy to hang and maintain, holds all kinds of packaged suet.
Ultimate Woodpecker Feeder
Only allows woodpeckers to feed made of Inland Cedar.
The No-No Copper Feeder
Beautiful copper feeder holds 2.5 lbs of sunflower seeds.
Attracting Clingers

Overview

Cape May Warbler: Small warbler, olive-yellow upperparts, thick, black streaks on yellow underparts. Bright yellow face, chestnut-brown ear patch, black crown. Wings are dark with large white patches. First collected in Cape May, New Jersey in 1811 and not seen again in that area for over 100 years.

Range and Habitat

Cape May Warbler: Breeds from southern Mackenzie, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec south to North Dakota, Michigan, northern New York, Maine, and Nova Scotia. Spends winters in southern Florida and the West Indies. Preferred habitats include open spruce forests, but during migration also found in evergreen or deciduous woodlands, and often parks or suburban yards.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body


Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"seet seet seet seet"

Interesting Facts

 The Cape May Warbler's Latin name, tigrina, reflects the tiger striped appearance of the adult male.

 Use of certain combinations of insecticides to control spruce budworms, its preferred food, causes steep declines in its numbers.

 The tongue is unique among warblers. It is curled and semitubular, and is used to collect nectar during winter.

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


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Imran Kahn

Splitbar
Range Map for Cape May Warbler

.
Family Wood Warbler (Parulidae)_blue
Species Dendroica tigrina
Length4.75 Inches
Wingspan7 Inches

Cape May Warbler

Cape May Warbler: Small warbler, olive-yellow upperparts, thick, black streaks on yellow underparts. Bright yellow face, chestnut-brown ear patch, black crown. Wings are dark with large white patches. First collected in Cape May, New Jersey in 1811 and not seen again in that area for over 100 years.

● Song: "seet seet seet seet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Cape May Warbler: Diet consists mostly of caterpillars, spruce budworms, ants, flies, small bees, spiders, and crickets; also drinks juices of grapes by poking a hole in the grape with bills. Sometimes catches insects on the wing.

● Breeding & nesting: Cape May Warbler: Six to nine gray or brown spotted, creamy white eggs are laid in a bulky, compact, twig-and-moss nest lined with grass, fur, and feathers. Incubation ranges from 11 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Cape May Warbler: Yellow-rumped Warbler has more blurry streaks on breast, brighter yellow rump, and thicker bill. Palm Warbler has yellow undertail coverts and consistently wags tail.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flights of short duration.
Cape May Warbler Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Cape May Warbler: Breeds from southern Mackenzie, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec south to North Dakota, Michigan, northern New York, Maine, and Nova Scotia. Spends winters in southern Florida and the West Indies. Preferred habitats include open spruce forests, but during migration also found in evergreen or deciduous woodlands, and often parks or suburban yards.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationYes but uncommon
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.4 Ounces
Perching-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
CrownX
The crown is the top part of the birds head.
Ear patchX
Consists of soft, loose-webbed feathers on the side of the bird's head below and behind the eyes.
FaceX
The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

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.

Read more...
ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

Read more...
Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX