Bay-breasted Warbler

Dendroica castaneaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Codes: Common Name: BBWA Scientific Name: DENCAS ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178912

Breeding Location:

Forest edge

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Abundant

Egg Color:

White, green or blue with purple or brown marks

Number of Eggs:

4 - 6

Incubation Days:

12 - 13

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Sticks, grasses, roots, mosses, and stems, lined with pieces of bark and rabbit hair.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Bay-breasted Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with dark-streaked gray upperparts and buff underparts with chestnut-brown patches on breast and flanks. Head has dark brown crown and black mask. Wings are black with two white bars. Female is much duller. Winter adult and juvenile resemble female but are washed with olive-green.

Range and Habitat

Bay-breasted Warbler: Breeds from northeastern British Columbia east to Maritime Provinces and south to the northern Great Lakes region and northern New England. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include open spruce forests and deciduous woodlands.

Breeding and Nesting

Bay-breasted Warbler: Four to six brown or purple marked, white, green or blue eggs are laid in a loosely built, hair-lined nest made of twigs, grass, and needles set in a conifer as much as 50 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Bay-breasted Warbler: Eats caterpillars, beetles, flies, moths, mayflies, ants, lacewings, and canker worms. Generally gleans prey from mid-level, inner part of conifers, particularly on lichen-covered limbs with little foliage, but readily forages at other heights within the tree and in broad-leaved foliage.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces

Vocalization

Bay-breasted Warbler: Song is a high, thin "teesi-teesi-teesi-teesi", without change in pitch or volume.

Similar Species

Bay-breasted Warbler: Chestnut-sided Warbler has yellow crown and white throat. In winter, Blackpoll Warbler has yellow legs, white undertail coverts, and more streaks on breast. Pine Warbler lacks black streaks on the back and has yellow on throat and breast.

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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.

Bay-breasted Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with dark-streaked gray upperparts and buff underparts with chestnut-brown patches on the chin, throat, breast and flanks. The head has a dark brown crown and black mask. Wings are black with two white bars. It is one of the largest warblers.

● Song: "tees teesi teesi teesi teesi teesi"

● Foraging & Feeding: Bay-breasted Warbler: Eats caterpillars, beetles, flies, moths, mayflies, ants, lacewings, and canker worms. Generally gleans prey from mid-level, inner part of conifers, particularly on lichen-covered limbs with little foliage, but readily forages at other heights within the tree and in broad-leaved foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Bay-breasted Warbler: Four to six brown or purple marked, white, green or blue eggs are laid in a loosely built, hair-lined nest made of twigs, grass, and needles set in a conifer as much as 50 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Bay-breasted Warbler: Chestnut-sided Warbler has yellow crown and white throat. In winter, Blackpoll Warbler has yellow legs, white undertail coverts, and more streaks on breast. Pine Warbler lacks black streaks on the back and has yellow on throat and breast.

Flight Pattern

Weak flight on rapidly beating wings.

Bay-breasted Warbler Breeding Adult Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Bay-breasted Warbler: Breeds from northeastern British Columbia east to Maritime Provinces and south to the northern Great Lakes region and northern New England. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include open spruce forests and deciduous woodlands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationAbundant

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Underparts

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

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

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