Mourning Warbler

Oporornis philadelphiaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Codes: Common Name: MOWA Scientific Name: OPOPHI ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178939

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Overview

Mourning Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with an olive-green back, wings, tail, and gray hood. The underparts are yellow and the upper breast is black. It's named for the way its dark breast and hood resemble a person in mourning. It is one of the latest spring migrants of all North American warblers.

Range and Habitat

Mourning Warbler: Breeds from Alberta to Newfoundland and south to North Dakota and northern New England, and in mountains to Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include dense thickets of blackberries and briars in forest clearings; also wet woodlands with thick undergrowth.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"teedle-teedle", "turtle-turtle"

Interesting Facts

The Mourning Warbler gets its species name, philadelphia, from the city where Alexander Wilson discovered the bird in 1810. It is actually less common in Philadelphia than in many other places.

Both parents pretend to have broken wings to distract predators close to their nest.

The adult female eats the eggshells after the young hatch.

A group of mourning warblers are collectively known as a "wake" 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.

Mourning Warbler

● Song: "teedle-teedle", "turtle-turtle"

● Foraging & Feeding: Mourning Warbler: Eats insects and spiders; gleans food from foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Mourning Warbler: Three to five brown-spotted, white to creamy white eggs are laid in a nest made of fibers and leaves, lined with grass and hair, and built on or near the ground. Eggs are incubated for 12 days by the female.

● Similar species: Mourning Warbler: Connecticut Warbler is larger, has longer bill and distinct buff to white eye-ring.

Flight Pattern

Fairly swift direct flight for short distances.

● Range & Habitat: Mourning Warbler: Breeds from Alberta to Newfoundland and south to North Dakota and northern New England, and in mountains to Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include dense thickets of blackberries and briars in forest clearings; also wet woodlands with thick undergrowth.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

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

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