Virginia's Warbler

Vermivora virginiaeOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

General

Virginia's Warbler: Small warbler with gray upperparts and yellow rump. Throat is white, breast and undertail are yellow, and sides and belly are white with a gray wash. Head has rufous crown patch and bold white eye-rings. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller.

Range and Habitat

Virginia's Warbler: Breeds from southeastern California, southern Idaho, and northern Colorado south to Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include scrub oak and other chaparral, pinyon-juniper brushlands, and pine and oak woodlands.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chee-wee, chee-wee, chee-wee, cheeah, cheeah, chee", "chink"

Interesting Facts

Despite what its name may suggest, Virginia's Warbler is not named after the state of Virginia, which makes sense as the birds range only reaches as far east as the state of Texas. The bird was named for Virginia Anderson, the wife of an army surgeon who discovered the bird in New Mexico in 1858.

When Spencer Fullerton Baird of the Smithsonian Institute described the bird for science in 1860 he honored the wishes of the warbler's discoverer and designated Virginia to be both the birds’ common and scientific name.

Their habitat is threatened by many factors, including road construction, invasion of non native plant species and wildfires.

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

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007 Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
Privacy Policy.

Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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.

Virginia's Warbler

Virginia's Warbler: Small warbler, gray upperparts, yellow rump. Throat is white with yellow patch, breast and undertail are yellow, sides and belly are white with a gray wash. Head has rufous crown patch, bold white eye-rings. Named for the wife of the army surgeon who discovered it in New Mexico.

● Song: "chee-wee, chee-wee, chee-wee, cheeah, cheeah, chee", "chink"

● Foraging & Feeding: Virginia's Warbler: Diet consists mostly of insects. Forages on the ground, in foliage, or catches insects in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Virginia's Warbler: Three to five brown flecked, white eggs are laid in a loosely built cup nest on the ground. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Virginia's Warbler: Lucy's Warbler lacks white eye-ring, yellow rump, and undertail coverts. Nashville Warbler has more yellow on underparts and more olive on upperparts. Colima Warbler is larger and darker, and its range is restricted to a small area in Texas.

Flight Pattern

Weak flight on rapidly beating wings.

● Range & Habitat: Virginia's Warbler: Breeds from southeastern California, southern Idaho, and northern Colorado south to Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include scrub oak and other chaparral, pinyon-juniper brushlands, and pine and oak woodlands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America