MacGillivray's Warbler

Oporornis tolmieiOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Codes: Common Name: MGWA Scientific Name: OPOTOL ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178940

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Overview

MacGillivray's Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with olive-green upperparts and yellow underparts. White eye-ring is broken and slate gray hood extends to upper breast where it darkens to black. It forages for insects on or close to the ground. As it hops, it often flicks its tail from side to side.

Range and Habitat

MacGillivray's Warbler: Breeds from Alaska and the Yukon south to California and central New Mexico. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include coniferous forest edges, burns, brushy cuts, or second-growth alder thickets and streamside growth.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"swee-eet, swee-eet, swee-eet, peachy, peachy, peachy"

Interesting Facts

MacGillivray's and Mourning Warblers are now considered distinct species, but in the past they had been thought to be the same species on the basis of similar plumages and possible cases of hybridization where their ranges overlap.

Size disparity, consistent differences in morphology and song, and physical separation of breeding ranges supports the recognition of separate species.

It was named by John James Audubon for his friend Dr. W. MacGillivray. Audubon coined this name even though John Kirk Townsend had already named the species "Tolmie's Warbler," after Dr. W. T. Tolmie. The scientific name "tolmiei" was given in his honor.

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

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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.

MacGillivray's Warbler

● Song: "swee-eet, swee-eet, swee-eet, peachy, peachy, peachy"

● Foraging & Feeding: MacGillivray's Warbler: Eats mostly insects; forages close to the ground in dense thickets.

● Breeding & nesting: MacGillivray's Warbler: Three to six brown marked, white to creamy white eggs are laid in a grassy cup nest built close to the ground in a bush or tall weeds. Eggs are incubated for 11 days by the female.

● Similar species: MacGillivray's Warbler: Mourning Warbler lacks broken eye-ring. Females and juveniles of the two species are difficult to tell apart and are best separated by range. Connecticut Warbler is larger and has complete eye-rings.

Flight Pattern

Fairly swift direct flight for short distances.

MacGillivray's Warbler Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: MacGillivray's Warbler: Breeds from Alaska and the Yukon south to California and central New Mexico. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include coniferous forest edges, burns, brushy cuts, or second-growth alder thickets and streamside growth.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a 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