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.