Adult male. Photo: Jesse Gordon/Audubon Photography Awards
Setophaga petechia
| Conservation status | Because it favors second growth and edges, not as vulnerable to loss of habitat as some warblers. Current populations probably stable. |
|---|---|
| Family | Wood Warblers |
| Habitat | Bushes, swamp edges, streams, gardens. Breeds in a variety of habitats in east, including woods and thickets along edges of streams, lakes, swamps, and marshes, favoring willows, alders, and other moisture-loving plants. Also in dryer second-growth woods, orchards, roadside thickets. In west, restricted to streamside thickets. In winter in the tropics, favors semi-open country, woodland edges, towns. |
Forages from low levels up to treetops. Takes insects from twigs and foliage, hovers briefly to take items from underside of leaves, and flies out after flying insects. Males tend to forage higher and in more open foliage than females. Forages alone in winter in the tropics, defending a winter feeding territory.
4-5, sometimes 3-6. Greenish-white, with variety of specks or spots of brown, olive, and gray. Incubated solely by female, 11-12 days. Male feeds female on nest. Very frequently parasitized by cowbirds. May defend against parasitism by rebuilding new nest on top of cowbird eggs, or by deserting nest. Young: Fed by both parents (female does more). Young leave the nest 9-12 days after hatching.
Fed by both parents (female does more). Young leave the nest 9-12 days after hatching.
Mostly insects. Up to two-thirds of diet may be caterpillars of various kinds. Also feeds on mayflies, moths, mosquitoes, beetles, damselflies, treehoppers, and other insects, plus spiders; also eats a few berries.
Males defend nesting territories by singing, sometimes performing fluttering flight displays. Male courts female by actively pursuing her for 1-4 days. Nest: Placed in upright fork of branches in shrubs, small trees, and briars from 2-60' above ground. Nest (built by female) is compact open cup of weed stalks, shredded bark, grass, lined with plant down or fur. Males accompany females on trips to the nest and will occasionally help build. Females will steal nest material from other nests.
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.
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