Red-faced Warbler

Cardellina rubrifronsOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

General

Red-faced Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with gray upperparts, white nape and rump, and paler gray underparts. Forehead, throat, and breast are bright red. Crown and ear patches are black. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has brown upperparts, olive-brown throat, and lacks red.

Range and Habitat

Red-faced Warbler: Breeds in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Spends winters in the tropics. Found in montane coniferous forests.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"sweet-sweet-sweet-weeta-see-see-see", "chup"

Interesting Facts

The Red-faced Warbler is the only North American warbler with a bright reddish face and upper breasts.

Although they appear to be monogamous, they exhibit high rates of extra-pair copulations. Almost 75% of nests have at least one young bird sired by a male other than the territorial male.

They have a quirky habit of flicking their tail sideways while feeding.

A group of red-faced warblers are collectively known as an "embarrassment" 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.

Red-faced Warbler

Red-faced Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with gray upperparts, white nape and rump, and paler gray underparts. Forehead, throat, and upper breast are bright red. The crown and ear patches are black. Gray tail is long and square tipped. Eats mostly spiders and insects which it finds in tree branches.

● Song: "sweet-sweet-sweet-weeta-see-see-see", "chup"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-faced Warbler: Eats mostly insects; forages in outer branches of conifers; also catches flying insects in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-faced Warbler: Three or four white eggs, with small brown spots, are laid in a loosely assembled ground nest made of rootlets and grass, and sheltered by a log, rock, or patch of weeds. Incubation ranges from 10 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Red-faced Warbler: None in range.

Flight Pattern

Fairly swift direct flight for short distances.

● Range & Habitat: Red-faced Warbler: Breeds in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Spends winters in the tropics. Found in montane coniferous forests.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America