Magnolia Warbler

IDENTIFICATION: In breeding plumage, the male has bright blue and black upperparts; white markings around the eye; and dramatic black streaks on a yellow breast. In the fall and winter these colors are more subdued. Birds in non-breeding plumage have a white eye ring. A bright yellow rump and white tail markings are obvious in flight. Length: 11-13 cm.; weight: 8-10 g.

VOICE: The call is a nasal "tzek."

HABITAT: Shrubby pastures, gardens, and dry forests.

HABITS: In winter both sexes set up feeding territories from which they try to chase out other warbler species. The Magnolia Warbler gleans caterpillars, other insects, and spiders from leaves, and occasionally catches an insect in mid-air. This species often fans its tail, revealing the white band toward the end of the tail. In the breeding season in North America, the Magnolia Warbler typically builds its nest low in a spruce or fir tree. Both sexes build the nest, but the female does all the incubation of the four eggs for 11-13 days. Both sexes feed the chicks and remove the chicksÆ fecal sacks. The young fledge about 10 days after hatching. This species migrates at night with other warbler species in mixed flocks.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: One of three North American migrant warbler species that are irruptive, i.e. in most winters the Magnolia Warbler is rare in Puerto Rico. But in some years much larger numbers reach Puerto Rico, and less commonly the eastern Caribbean. The speciesÆ population has probably increased as forests in eastern North America have regenerated over the last century. But introduced insect pests are threatening the hemlock (Tsuga sp.) forests that it depends on in the Appalachian Mountain portion of its range.

RANGE: Breeds in the boreal forests of Canada, the Great Lakes region, New England, and the northern Appalachian Mountains. It winters from Mexico through Central America, and in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the Virgin Islands.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; PARULIDAE

Photo: G. Beaton


Photo: B. Hallett

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bent, A.C. 1953. Life histories of North American wood warblers. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 203. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1963).

Curson, J., D. Quinn, and D. Beadle. 1994. Warblers of the Americas: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, NY.

Dunn, J. and K. Garrett. 1997. A field guide to warblers of North America. Houghton Mifflin, NY.

Hall, G. A. 1994. Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia). No. 136 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, PA, and Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington, D.C.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Magnolia Warbler, Spanish text

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