Adult male. Photo: Frode Jacobsen/Shutterstock
Setophaga cerulea
| Conservation status | Possibly threatened or endangered. Surveys show strongly declining numbers in recent years. Nesting efforts may fail because of increasing cowbird parasitism in smaller patches of forest. May also be losing wintering habitat in tropics. |
|---|---|
| Family | Wood Warblers |
| Habitat | Deciduous forests, especially in river valleys. Breeds in mature hardwoods either in uplands or along streams. Prefers elm, soft maple, oak, birch, hickory, beech, basswood, linden, sycamore, or black ash. Nests only in tall forest with clear understory. In winter in tropics, found mostly in forest and woodland borders in foothills and lower slopes. |
Forages mostly high in trees, moving rapidly from limb to limb, searching among foliage and twigs for insects. Also flies out to catch flying insects in mid-air. In winter in the tropics, scattered individuals forage with mixed flocks, ranging from low to high in the trees.
3-5, usually 4. Gray or creamy off-white, with spots of brown. Incubation by female only, probably 12-13 days. Apparently does not often host cowbird eggs where it can nest in unbroken mature forest, but may be parasitized more frequently in forest fragments. Young: Both parents feed the nestlings. Age at which the young leave the nest is not well known.
Both parents feed the nestlings. Age at which the young leave the nest is not well known.
Insects. The diet is not well known; undoubtedly feeds mostly or entirely on insects, like most warblers. Has been observed feeding on caterpillars.
Males arrive on breeding grounds near the middle of May. Nesting behavior has been little studied, owing to the difficulty of observing the nests. Nest: Placed on horizontal branch of hardwood, far from trunk and usually high, 15-90' up in tree. Favors oak, maple, basswood, elm, hickory, sycamore, beech, or tulip trees. Nest is a small, shallow open cup (probably built by female), made of bark strips, grasses, weeds, spider silk, and lichen; lined with moss and hair.
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.
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LITTLE ROCK (November 23, 2020)– With the approval of the Arkansas General Assembly on November 20, the Arkansas Public Service Co
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program supports bird conservation in three critical regions of the watershed.
Gov. Ralph Northam gives the birds and people of Virginia hope for a clean energy future with the Virginia Clean Economy Act.
Full-lifecycle conservation for seven priority species along the Atlantic Flyway
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