Townsend's Warbler

Dendroica townsendiOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Breeding Location:

Forests, coniferous

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common in coniferous range

Egg Color:

White with small brown dots

Number of Eggs:

3 - 5

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Bark pieces, plant fibers, lichens, grasses, and cocoon materials.

Migration:

Migratory

Overview

Townsend's Warbler: Olive-green upperparts, black throat and upper breast. Lower breast and sides are yellow with black streaks and belly is white.Face is yellow with black crown and cheek patch and yellow crescent below eye. Wings have two white bars. Tail has white edges, dark center and tip.

Range and Habitat

Townsend's Warbler: Breeds from Alaska and British Columbia to northern Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Spends winters from southwestern California southward. Preferred habitats include coniferous forests, especially old stands of Douglas firs.

Breeding and Nesting

Townsend's Warbler: Three to five white eggs, with small brown spots, are laid in a well-concealed shallow cup nest, usually in a conifer. Eggs are incubated for 12 days by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Townsend's Warbler: Diet consists of insects and spiders; forages by gleaning prey from clumps of leaves while perched or hovering; occasionally catches flying insects in mid-air.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces

Vocalization

Townsend's Warbler: Song is a high, wheezy "zwee zwee zwee zwee sweezit", rising in pitch then dropping at the end, although the pattern is quite variable.

Similar Species

Townsend's Warbler: Black-throated Green Warbler has yellow cheeks and face without dark ear patches. Hermit Warbler lacks black cheeks and crown.

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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.

Townsend's Warbler

● Song: "zwee-zwee-zwee", "tew", "eek", "whee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Townsend's Warbler: Diet consists of insects and spiders; forages by gleaning prey from clumps of leaves while perched or hovering; occasionally catches flying insects in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Townsend's Warbler: Three to five white eggs, with small brown spots, are laid in a well-concealed shallow cup nest, usually in a conifer. Eggs are incubated for 12 days by the female.

● Similar species: Townsend's Warbler: Black-throated Green Warbler has yellow cheeks and face without dark ear patches. Hermit Warbler lacks black cheeks and crown.

Flight Pattern

Weak flight on rapidly beating wings.

● Range & Habitat: Townsend's Warbler: Breeds from Alaska and British Columbia to northern Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Spends winters from southwestern California southward. Preferred habitats include coniferous forests, especially old stands of Douglas firs.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common in coniferous range

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America