Bachman's Warbler

Vermivora bachmaniiOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Codes: Common Name: BAWA Scientific Name: VERBAC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178854

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Overview

Bachman's Warbler: Small warbler, olive-green upperparts, yellow forehead, throat, underparts, faint white eye-ring, black crown, bib. It was last seen in the United States in 1962, when it was recorded near Charlestown, South Carolina. In Cuba a wintering female was spotted in 1981.

Range and Habitat

Bachman's Warbler: Probably extinct; previously occurred in the southeastern U.S. during its breeding season; the only positive winter reports for this species were in Cuba and southern Florida. In the breeding season, the species favored seasonally flooded swamp forests, especially with cane thickets.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"trill, trill, trill, trill, trill, trill, trill,trill"

Interesting Facts

The Bachman's Warbler is presumed extinct. John James Audubon named this bird after his friend and collaborator, Reverend John Bachman of South Carolina, who is credited with discovering this species. The last confirmed sightings were in 1988 and before that in 1961 in South Carolina.

On January 14, 2002, a bird resembling a female Bachman's Warbler was filmed in Cuba. As these birds are not known to live more than about 7 years, if the identification is correct it would imply that a breeding population managed to survive undiscovered for decades.

Habitat destruction was probably the main cause of its disappearance. Its extinction is not yet officially announced, because habitat remaining in Congaree National Park needs to be surveyed.

A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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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.

Bachman's Warbler

● Song: "trill, trill, trill, trill, trill, trill, trill,trill"

● Foraging & Feeding: Bachman's Warbler: Eats insects, mostly caterpillars, spiders, and other small invertebrates: Forages by searching among leaves and probing into leaf clusters.

● Breeding & nesting: Bachman's Warbler: Three to five white eggs are laid in a nest made of leaves, grass, moss, and other plant material, lined with finer material and Spanish moss, and built from 1 to 4 feet above the ground in a bottomland forest, usually near water. Female incubates eggs for about 12 days.

● Similar species: Bachman's Warbler: Sides of face, belly, and undertail coverts of the Hooded Warbler are yellow; also has large white patches on outer tail feathers.

Flight Pattern

Short weak fluttering flights with rapid shallow wing beats.

Bachman's Warbler Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Bachman's Warbler: Probably extinct; previously occurred in the southeastern U.S. during its breeding season; the only positive winter reports for this species were in Cuba and southern Florida. In the breeding season, the species favored seasonally flooded swamp forests, especially with cane thickets.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationProbably extinct

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

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

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

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