General

Palm Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with olive-brown upperparts and yellow underparts streaked with brown. Cap is chestnut-brown. Western form is grayer overall and has white belly. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is duller and has less yellow. Constantly wags tail.

Range and Habitat

Palm Warbler: Breeds from west-central Canada east to Labrador and Newfoundland, and south to extreme northern U.S. Spends winters in the southeastern U.S. and southward to the West Indies and Yucatan Peninsula, and also along the Pacific coast from Oregon to Baja, California. Preferred habitats include bogs, marsh edges, and weedy fields.

Breeding and Nesting

Palm Warbler: Four or five brown marked, white to cream eggs are laid in a grass nest made from shreds of bark and lined with feathers and rootlets. Nest is built on the ground in a grass clump, often at the base of a small tree or bush. Eggs are incubated for approximately 12 days by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Palm Warbler: Eats mostly insects during summer; feeds on seeds, berries, insects, and nectar in winter; forages on the ground and in shrubs and trees.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces

Vocalization

Palm Warbler: Song is a weak, dry trill.

Similar Species

Palm Warbler: Prairie Warbler has brighter yellow underparts and lacks streaks on breast.