Breeding adult male. Photo: Owen Deutsch/Audubon Photography Awards
Setophaga striata
| Conservation status | Abundant, but may be decreasing in southern parts of breeding distribution. Vulnerable to loss of habitat, especially on winter range. |
|---|---|
| Family | Wood Warblers |
| Habitat | Conifers; broadleaf trees in migration. Breeds in low northern spruce forest, and in alder thickets north of the Arctic Circle and north of treeline. In migration, moves through forests, parks and gardens. In winter in the tropics, found in wooded areas, often in canopy of trees, up to 7,800' elevation. |
Forages in a deliberate manner, creeping along on branches in the tops of taller trees, gleaning insects from bark, leaves, and twigs. Also flies out to catch flying insects. In migration, may forage frequently with other warblers.
4-5, sometimes 3. Off-white, with brown and lavender spots. Incubation probably about 12 days, by female. Male feeds female on nest during incubation. Young: Fed by both parents. Leave nest 11-12 days after hatching. 1 brood per year, sometimes 2.
Fed by both parents. Leave nest 11-12 days after hatching. 1 brood per year, sometimes 2.
Mostly insects and berries. During the breeding season eats aphids, scale insects, caterpillars, beetles, gnats, mosquitoes, cankerworms, sawflies, wasps, ants, termites, and other insects. Also eats spiders and their eggs, pokeberries, and a few seeds. In migration, noted feeding on spiders, aphids, and scale insects found on citrus and native plants in Florida.
A few males have more than one mate per nesting season. Females return to nest site of previous year and mate with male holding that territory, whether or not he is already mated. Courtship and nest building are deliberate and protracted, and begin later in the season than in most warblers. Nest: Placed next to trunk, on horizontal branch, usually 2-12' above the ground, rarely more than 30' up. Site is located in the understory of young spruce or fir saplings, sometimes in alder thickets. Bulky open cup (built by female) is made of twigs, bark, sprays of spruce, grass stems, weeds, moss, and lichens; lined with feathers, hair, rootlets.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
Nature-based climate solutions can deliver one third of the emission reductions needed to meet the Paris Climate Agreement.
At the United Nations Biodiversity Summit, seventy-five world leaders dedicated their countries to a new higher level of support for nature conservation.
As President Trump’s first term nears its end, major land-use decisions are coming due, with massive stakes for the environment.
Let us send you the latest in bird and conservation news.
Visit your local Audubon center, join a chapter, or help save birds with your state program.
Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats. Your support helps secure a future for birds at risk.
Our email newsletter shares the latest programs and initiatives.
