Bird name:

Prothonotary Warbler

Protonotaria citrea

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Code 4

PROW

Code 6

PROCIT

ITIS

178846

Breeding Location:

Forest edge, Marshes, freshwater, Swamps

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common

Egg Color:

Pink or cream with brown and gray spots

Number of Eggs:

4 - 6

Incubation Days:

12 - 14

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Grasses, moss, leaves, and sticks, lined with feathers and rootlets.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Prothonotary Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with olive-green back and gray wings and tail. Head, neck, and underparts are vibrant yellow; undertail coverts are white. Female and juvenile are duller and have olive-green wash on heads and faces.

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and Feeding

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

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces

Vocalization

Prothonotary Warbler: Song is a ringing "sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet -sweet-sweet"; also a canary-like flight song. Call is a loud, metallic "chip."

Similar Species

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

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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.

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