Bird name:

Swainson's Warbler

Limnothlypis swainsonii

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Code 4

SWWA

Code 6

LIMSWA

ITIS

178848

Breeding Location:

Bushes and shrubs

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Uncommon in swamps & moist woodlands.

Egg Color:

White, sometimes with brown speckles

Number of Eggs:

2 - 5

Incubation Days:

13 - 15

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Mass of leaves, pine needles, mammal hair, grasses, Spanish moss and rootlets

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Swainson's Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with olive-brown upperparts and pale gray underparts. Head has brown cap, white eyebrows, and dark eye-lines. Wings are plain olive-brown. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Swainson's Warbler: In southeast U.S., lives in canebrakes and thickets in swamps and among hardwoods; in the southern Appalachians it is found in laurel and rhododendron thickets of moist, montane forests.

Breeding and Nesting

Swainson's Warbler: Two to five white eggs, sometimes with brown speckles, are laid in a nest made of leaves, pine needles, mammal hair, grass, Spanish moss, and rootlets, and built in a bush or vines, 2 to 10 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 13 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Swainson's Warbler: Eats insects, millipedes, and spiders; forages in shrubs and trees or on the ground, walking and slowly turning over leaves with its bill.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces

Vocalization

Swainson's Warbler: Song is a clear, bold "whee-whee-whee, whip-poor-will", with opening notes down-slurred and last three clear and faster. Call is a loud clear "chip."

Similar Species

Swainson's Warbler: Worm-eating Warbler has shorter bill, buff head with two pairs of black stripes, and buff underparts.

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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.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the 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