Prothonotary Warbler

Protonotaria citreaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Codes: Common Name: PROW Scientific Name: PROCIT ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178846

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Prothonotary Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with olive-green back and blue-gray wings and tail. Head, neck, and underparts are vibrant yellow and the undertail coverts are white. Bill, legs and feet are black. The only eastern warbler that nests in tree hollows. Once called the Golden Swamp Warbler.

Range and Habitat

Prothonotary Warbler: Breeds mainly in the southeastern states north to Minnesota, Michigan, and New York. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include wooded swamps, flooded bottomland forests, and streams with dead trees.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet -sweet-sweet", "chip"

Interesting Facts

The Prothonotary Warbler is an endangered bird in Canada.

The disappearance of its favorite winter habitat, mangrove swamps, may eventually present a threat to populations.

It is one of only two warbler species in North America who nests in cavities. The other is Lucy’s Warbler.

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

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

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.

Prothonotary Warbler

● Song: "sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet -sweet-sweet", "chip"

● Foraging & Feeding: Prothonotary Warbler: Eats mostly insects, but also fruits and seeds; forages in trees, shrubs, and on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Prothonotary Warbler: Four to six pink or cream eggs, spotted with brown and gray, are laid in a tree cavity, stump hole, birdhouse, or other man-made structure, such as a mailbox. The cavity is stuffed with mosses to form a nest cup. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Prothonotary Warbler: Female Yellow Warbler has yellow wings and undertail coverts. Blue-winged Warbler has black eye-lines and pale wing-bars.

Flight Pattern

Rapid direct flight.

● Range & Habitat: Prothonotary Warbler: Breeds mainly in the southeastern states north to Minnesota, Michigan, and New York. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include wooded swamps, flooded bottomland forests, and streams with dead trees.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

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

Undertail coverts

Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.

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