Townsend's warbler (''Setophaga townsendi'') is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

Taxonomy

Townsend's warbler was formally described in 1837 by the American naturalist John Kirk Townsend under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Sylvia townsendi''. The type locality is Fort Vancouver on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

in the state of Washington. After the merger of the genera ''Dendroica'' and ''Setophaga'', Townsend's warbler is now placed in the genus '' Setophaga'' that was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The species is monotypic: no

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised.

Description

Townsend's warbler has a yellow face with a black stripe across its cheeks extending into an ear patch, a thin pointed bill, two white wing bars, olive upperparts with black streaks on their backs and flanks, and a white belly. Adult males have a black cap, black throat and yellow lower breast; females have a dark cap and a yellow throat. Immature birds are similar to females with a dark green cap and cheeks. Townsend's Warbler (24573647458)

Life history

Dendroica townsendi -San Francisco, California, USA-8

Their breeding habitats are

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

ous forests with large trees on the northwestern coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Their nests are shallow cups built with grass and lined with moss. These nests are usually placed atop a branch in a conifer. The female lays 4 to 5 brown-speckled white eggs. This bird is closely related to the

hermit warbler The hermit warbler (''Setophaga occidentalis'') is a small perching bird. It is a species of New World warbler or wood-warbler. They are a migratory bird, the breeding range spanning the majority of the west coast of the United States. Their wint ...

, and the two species interbreed where their ranges overlap. Birds from Haida Gwaii

migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

short distances further south on the Pacific coast. Other birds winter in Mexico, Central America, and the south-western United States. They forage actively in the higher branches, often gleaning insects from foliage and sometimes hovering or catching insects in flight. They mainly eat insects and spiders and seeds. Outside of the nesting season, these birds forage in mixed flocks. In winter, they also eat berries and plant

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

, and honeydew directly from the anus of scale insects. The song of the male bird is a buzzed ''zee-zee-zee-bzz-zee'' or ''weazy weazy weazy weazy twea'', somewhat similar to that of its eastern relative, the black-throated green warbler. The call is a sharp ''tup''. This bird was named after the American

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, John Kirk Townsend. Although Townsend is also credited with first describing this bird, he used a name chosen by Thomas Nuttall, who was travelling with him, and so sidestepped the convention against naming a species after oneself.

References

External links

*
Townsend's warbler species account
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology

- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q512543

Townsend's warbler Townsend's warbler (''Setophaga townsendi'') is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. Taxonomy Townsend's warbler was species description, formally described in 1837 by the American naturalist John Kirk Townsend under the binomial nam ...

Native birds of Alaska Native birds of Western Canada Native birds of the Northwestern United States