Kentucky Warbler

Oporornis formosusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

General

Kentucky Warbler: Medium-sized, ground-dwelling warbler with bright olive-green upperparts and yellow underparts. Head has black mask and sideburns and thick yellow eyebrows. Female and juvenile are duller with reduced sideburns. Walks on the ground and wags tail while foraging for insects.

Range and Habitat

Kentucky Warbler: Breeds from Iowa and Indiana east to New Jersey, and south to the southeastern U.S. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include low, moist, rich woodlands with luxuriant undergrowth.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"churry-churry-churry-churry-churry"

Interesting Facts

The Kentucky Warbler was named for the state where it was discovered in 1811 by Alexander Wilson.

Breeding Bird Survey data show a statistically significant 1% per year decline between 1966-2001 across its entire U.S. range.

A major threat to their habitat in many areas is the often complete loss of understory vegetation across broad areas caused by an over-abundant White-tailed Deer population.

A group of Kentucky Warblers are collectively known as a "Derby" of warblers.

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.

Kentucky Warbler

Kentucky Warbler: Medium, ground-dwelling warbler with bright olive-green upperparts and yellow underparts. Head has black mask and sideburns and thick yellow eyebrows. Bill is black, legs and feet are pink. Secretive, heard rather than seen. It is named for the state where it was first discovered.

● Song: "churry-churry-churry-churry-churry"

● Foraging & Feeding: Kentucky Warbler: Diet includes grubs, plant lice, spiders, caterpillars, and other insect larvae. Sometimes adds a bit of Mexican fruit to its diet during winter. Forages on the ground by rummaging through leaf litter, probing, and tossing with its bill, and scratching with its feet; also feeds in shrubs, vines, and lower parts of trees.

● Breeding & nesting: Kentucky Warbler: Three to six white eggs with brown flecks and splotches are laid in a nest made of dead leaves, lined with grass, hair, and rootlets, and built on or near the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Kentucky Warbler: Common Yellowthroat lacks yellow spectacles and has a white belly.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Kentucky Warbler: Breeds from Iowa and Indiana east to New Jersey, and south to the southeastern U.S. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include low, moist, rich woodlands with luxuriant undergrowth.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America