Field Guide to Birds of North America
Wilson's Warbler
General
Wilson's Warbler: Small warbler with olive-green upperparts, bright yellow face and underparts, and distinct black cap. Female and juvenile are duller, lack black cap, and have unmarked wings and tail.
Range and Habitat
Wilson's Warbler: Breeds from Alaska eastward to Newfoundland and south to southern California, New Mexico, central Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include moist thickets in woodlands and along streams as well as alder, willow thickets, and bogs.
Listen to Call
Voice Text
"chip-chip-chip"
Interesting Facts
- The Wilson's Warbler was first described in 1811 by the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson, who gave his own name to the species.
- It is found in a large diversity of environments in the winter. It is the only migrant warbler regularly found in tropical high plains.
- It is easy to observe this common warbler, which has little fear of humans, because it searches the outsides of leafy branches, often catching flying insects on the wing like a flycatcher.
- A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.
Author
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Family
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Species
Wilsonia pusilla
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Length4.75
Inches
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Wingspan7.5
Inches
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Wilson's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler: Small warbler with olive-green upperparts, bright yellow face and underparts, distinct black cap. It has a long, olive-brown tail which it moves up and down, or in a circular fashion, as it searches for food. It is more common in the West than in the East. Legs and feet are pink.
● Song: "chip-chip-chip"
● Foraging & Feeding: Wilson's Warbler: Eats mainly insects (especially leafhoppers) and spiders, but occasionally consumes berries.
● Breeding & nesting: Wilson's Warbler: Four to seven brown flecked, white to creamy white eggs are laid in a bulky nest made of leaves, rootlets, and moss, lined with hair and fine plant materials, and concealed on the ground in a dense clump of weeds or sedges. Incubation ranges from 10 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.
● Similar species: Wilson's Warbler: Hooded Warbler has white spots on tail, a longer bill, dark lores, male has a black hood, and female has black or olive crown and sides of neck. Yellow Warbler has a shorter tail, female and juvenile show yellow edging to wings and wing coverts, and yellow spots in tail.
Flight Pattern
Swift flight of short duration.
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BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
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PopulationCommon to fairly common
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MigrationMigratory
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Weight0.3
Ounces
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