Canada warbler

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Canada warbler
8G7D5475-Canada.jpg
Male
Canada Warbler on Bough.jpg
Female showing characteristic lighter neck markings and grey top plumage
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Parulidae
Genus: Cardellina
Species:
C. canadensis
Binomial name
Cardellina canadensis
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Wilsonia canadensis map.svg
Range of C. canadensis
  Breeding range
  Wintering range
Synonyms
  • Muscicapa canadensisLinnaeus, 1766
  • Wilsonia canadensis(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis) is a small boreal songbird of the New World warbler family (Parulidae). It summers in Canada and northeastern United States and winters in northern South America.

Contents

Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Canada warbler in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Canada. He used the French name Le gobe-mouche cendré de Canada and the Latin name Muscicapa Canadensis Cinerea. [2] Although Brissn coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. [3] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. [3] One of these was the Canada warbler. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Muscicapa canadensis, and cited Brisson's work. [4] The species is now placed in the genus Cardellina that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850. [5] The species is monotypic. [6]

Description

The Canada warbler is sometimes called the "necklaced warbler", because of the band of dark streaks across its chest. The adults have minimal sexual dimorphism, although the male's "necklace" is darker and more conspicuous and also has a longer tail. Adults are 12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in) long, have a wingspan of 17–22 cm (6.7–8.7 in), and weigh 9–13 g (0.32–0.46 oz). [7]

The chest, throat, and belly of the bird are yellow, and its back is dark grey. It has no wingbars or tail spots, but the underside of the tail is white. It has a yellow line in front of its eye in the direction of the beak, but the most striking facial feature is the white eyerings or "spectacles". [8] Immature specimens have similar coloration as adults but duller and with less pronounced facial features. [8]

Song

The song ⓘ of this bird is loud and highly variable, resembling chip chewy sweet dichetty. Their calls are low chup's.

A 2013 study showed that male Canada warblers have two performance-encoded song types. Mode I, used mostly during the day, when unpaired either alone or near a female during early nesting, involves stereotyped songs sung slowly and regularly. Mode II, used at dawn, after pairing and when near another male, involves variable songs, sung rapidly with irregular rhythm and chirping between songs. Most of the phrases used were common to both modes, a feature unique among parulids, which ordinarily have an individual's repertoire separated into two distinct parts. [9]

In 2000, a female Canada warbler (or a post-hatching year-old male that failed to moult, something never before observed) in Giles County, Virginia was observed singing. Its repertoire consisted of a repeated song of 12 to 13 notes as well as several shorter songs consisting of the first five or six notes of the longer song. The bird did not respond to the playback of its own song or a recording of a male. Although female singing among the parulids has long been considered "idiosyncratic", singing by female Canada warblers is supported by the observation of female singing in congener Wilson's warbler and the closely related hooded warbler. [10]

Distribution and habitat

During the breeding season 82% of the population can be found in Canada and 18% in the United States. [7] In Canada, the summer range extends from southeastern Yukon to Nova Scotia. In the United States, the range extends from northern Minnesota to northern Pennsylvania, east to Long Island, New York. It also nests in the high Appalachians as far south as Georgia. [11] In winter, the Canada warbler's range extends from Guyana to northwestern Bolivia around the northern and western side of the Andean crest. [12]

In both summer and winter seasons, the Canada warbler inhabits moist thickets. During the breeding season, the bird "nests in riparian thickets, brushy ravines, forest bogs, etc. at a wide range of elevations and across a variety of forest types. In the northwestern parts of its range, it frequents aspen forests; in the center of the range, it is found in forested wetlands and swamps; and in the south, it occupies montane rhododendron thickets. [12] " In the winter, it prefers mid- and upper-elevation habitats. [12] In northern Minnesota, a study found that Canada warblers inhabited the shrub-forest edge, rather than mature forests or open fields with shrub. [13] In New England, the Canada warbler was found to be "disturbance specialists" moving into patches of forests recovering from wind throw or timber removal. [14] Because of its preference for low-height foraging in deciduous forests, it may be bounded at higher elevations as suitable habitat disappears and it suffers competition from the black-throated blue warbler which prefers similar habitats. [15]

Two accidentals have been observed in Europe. The first, a moribund male was caught in Sandgerði, Iceland on September 29, 1973. The second was a first winter, probably female observed for five days in October 2006 in County Clare, Ireland. [16]

Migration

The Canada warbler is one of the last birds to arrive at the breeding grounds and one of the first to leave. They may spend only two months there. They fly at night along a route generally south and west to the Texas coast, then to southern Mexico. The arrive at the winter grounds in northwestern South America in late September to early October. [12]

Behavior and ecology

Breeding

At least 60–65% of the population nests in boreal forests in Canada, the Great Lakes region of the United States, New England and through the Appalachians. [12] The birds are at least seasonally monogamous. Sightings of pairs during migration in Panama have led to the conclusion that they are permanently monogamous. [17] [7] This conclusion, however, is contradicted by the sexes' wintering at different elevations. [12]

Males arrive at the breeding grounds in the first two weeks of May. [11] Females build the nests on or very close to the ground in dense cover. The nests are made up of root masses, hummocks, stumps, stream banks, mossy logs, and sometimes leaf litter and grass clumps. Moss covering is frequent. [12]

The female lays four to five eggs and incubates for about 12 days. The chicks remain in the nest for about 10 days after hatching and are dependent on their parents for two to three weeks after they leave the nest. [18]

The age at which the young leave the nest is not known. Once independent they spend almost all their time in the understory, on the ground or in bushes. [11] The post-juvenile bird undergoes a partial moult involving all body feathers and wing coverlets. This may be completed before the first migration. [19]

The oldest known specimen was a male found in Quebec in 1982 at least 8 years old, having been banded in 1975. [20]

Food and feeding

The Canada warbler eats insects for the most part, including beetles, mosquitoes, flies, moths, and smooth caterpillars such as cankerworms, supplemented by spiders, snails, worms, and, at least seasonally, fruit. [12] [11] It employs several foraging tactics, such as flushing insects from foliage and catching them on the wing (which it does more frequently than other warblers), [12] and searching upon the ground among fallen leaves. [11] When they occasionally hover glean, males tend to fly higher than females on breeding grounds. [12] In the tropics of South America, it forages in mixed flocks with other birds, usually 3–30 feet above ground in denser foliage. [11]

Diseases and parasites

In the summer of 1947 a single specimen of Canada warbler from Virginia (and one specimen of another warbler from Georgia) were found to be hosts of a new species of acanthocephalan worm, which was named Apororhynchus amphistomi, the third species of that genus and the first in North America. [21] In the southern part of the breeding range, nest parasitism by cowbirds is frequent. [12]

Status

Partners in Flight estimates a global population of 4 million, [22] while the American Bird Conservancy estimates that 1.5 million individuals exist. [23]

Threats to the Canada warbler include forest fragmentation; over-browsing of the understory by deer, acid rain, and the spread of the woolly adelgid (a killer of fir and hemlock trees). [23] Owing to these factors the Breeding Bird Survey data show a population decline of 3.2 percent per year throughout the Canada warbler's breeding range, with the greatest declines in the Northeast. [24] [23] The species has been assessed as "threatened" by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. [25] The IUCN, however, ranks the Canada warbler as a species of least concern. [1]

The Canada warbler is protected at the federal level in both Canada and the United States. [18]

In art

John James Audubon illustrates the Canada warbler in Birds of America (published, London 1827-38) as Plate 73 entitled "Bonaparte's Flycatching-Warbler—Muscicapa bonapartii." The single female (now properly identified as a Canada warbler) is shown perched on a great magnolia ( Magnolia grandiflora ) branch that was painted by Joseph Mason. The final, combined image was engraved and colored by Robert Havell Jr. at the Havell workshops in London. The original painting was purchased by the New York Historical Society.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardinalidae</span> Bird family

Cardinalidae is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several other genera such as the tanager-like Piranga and the warbler-like Granatellus. Membership of this family is not easily defined by a single or even a set of physical characteristics, but instead by molecular work. Among songbirds, they range from average-sized to relatively large, and have stout features, some species with large, heavy bills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada jay</span> Passerine bird of the family Corvidae

The Canada jay, also known as the gray jay, grey jay, camp robber, or whisky jack, is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae. It is found in boreal forests of North America north to the tree line, and in the Rocky Mountains subalpine zone south to New Mexico and Arizona. A fairly large songbird, the Canada jay has pale grey underparts, darker grey upperparts, and a grey-white head with a darker grey nape. It is one of three members of the genus Perisoreus, a genus more closely related to the magpie genus Cyanopica than to other birds known as jays. The Canada jay itself has nine recognized subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive-sided flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The olive-sided flycatcher is a small to medium sized passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the Tyrant flycatcher family. It is a migratory species that travels from South to North America to breed during the summer. It is a very agile flyer and mainly consumes flying insects on flight. Since 2016, this species has been assessed as being near-threatened globally (IUCN) and threatened in Canada (SRA) due to its declining populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-rumped warbler</span> Species of bird

The yellow-rumped warbler is a regular North American bird species that can be commonly observed all across the continent. Its extensive distribution range connects both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S. as well as Canada and Central America, with the population concentrating in the continent's northern parts during the breeding season and migrating southwards to southern North and Central America in Winter. The species generally prefers coniferous forests or mixed coniferous-deciduous forests as its breeding habitat, while during the winter it can be found inhabiting more open areas such as shrublands that offer food resources. The diet of the yellow-rumped warbler is based primarily on insects, though the species does eat fruits such as juniper berries as well, especially in winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburnian warbler</span> Species of bird

The Blackburnian warbler is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnolia warbler</span> Species of bird

The magnolia warbler is a member of the wood warbler family Parulidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-and-white warbler</span> Species of New World warbler

The black-and-white warbler is a species of New World warbler, and the only member of its genus, Mniotilta. It breeds in northern and eastern North America and winters in Florida, Central America, and the West Indies down to Peru. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana waterthrush</span> Species of bird

The Louisiana waterthrush is a New World warbler, that breeds in eastern North America and winters in the West Indies and Central America. Plain brown above, it is white below, with black streaks and with buff flanks and undertail, distinguishing it from the closely related northern waterthrush. The habitats it prefers are streams and their surroundings, and other wet areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson's warbler</span> Species of bird

Wilson's warbler is a small New World warbler. It is greenish above and yellow below, with rounded wings and a long, slim tail. The male has a black crown patch; depending on the subspecies, that mark is reduced or absent in the female. It breeds across Canada and south through the western United States, and winters from Mexico south through much of Central America. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooded warbler</span> Species of bird

The hooded warbler is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies. Hooded warblers are very rare vagrants to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden-winged warbler</span> Species of bird

The golden-winged warbler is a New World warbler. It breeds in southeastern and south-central Canada and in the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern to north-central United States. The majority (~70%) of the global population breeds in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba. Golden-winged warbler populations are slowly expanding northwards, but are generally declining across its range, most likely as a result of habitat loss and competition/interbreeding with the very closely related blue-winged warbler, Vermivora cyanoptera. Populations are now restricted to two regions: the Great Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian population has declined 98% since the 1960s and is significantly imperiled. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been petitioned to list the species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and is currently reviewing all information after issuing a positive finding. Upon review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the petition to list the species as endangered or threatened presents "substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the golden-winged warbler may be warranted."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedge wren</span> Species of bird

The sedge wren is a small and secretive passerine bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is widely distributed in North America. It is often found in wet grasslands and meadows where it nests in the tall grasses and sedges and feeds on insects. The sedge wren was formerly considered as conspecific with the non-migratory grass wren of central and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-throated blue warbler</span> Species of bird

The black-throated blue warbler is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family. Its breeding ranges are located in the interior of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests in eastern North America. Over the cooler months, it migrates to islands in the Caribbean and Central America. It is very rarely found in western Europe, where it is considered to be a non-indigenous species. The black-throated blue warbler is sexually dimorphic; the adult male has a black face and cheeks, deep blue upperparts and white underparts, while the adult female is olive-brown above and light yellow below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerulean warbler</span> Species of bird

The cerulean warbler is a small songbird in the family Parulidae. It is a long-distance migrant, breeding in eastern North American hardwood forests. In the non-breeding season, it winters on the eastern slope of the Andes in South America, preferring subtropical forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut warbler</span> Species of bird

The Connecticut warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worm-eating warbler</span> Species of bird

The worm-eating warbler is a small New World warbler that breeds in the Eastern United States and migrates to southern Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America for the winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-throated gray warbler</span> Species of bird

The black-throated gray warbler or black-throated grey warbler is a passerine bird of the New World warbler family Parulidae. It is 13 cm (5.1 in) long and has gray and white plumage with black markings. The male has the bold black throat of its name, and black stripes on its head, as well as black streaks on its flanks; the female is a paler version of the male, with a white throat and less distinct black markings on the flanks and wings. It breeds in western North America from British Columbia to New Mexico, and winters in Mexico and the southwestern United States. The habitats it prefers are coniferous and mixed forests and scrubland, especially those with pinyon pines, junipers, sagebrush, and oaks. Its nest is an open cup of plant fibers lined with feathers, built a few metres from the ground in the branches of a tree or shrub. Three to five eggs are laid, and young are fed by both parents. Common in its breeding range, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townsend's warbler</span> Species of bird

Townsend's warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

<i>Wilsonia</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Wilsonia is a small genus of New World warblers which breed in North America. They are migratory, wintering south of their breeding ranges in Central America, the West Indies or South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red warbler</span> Species of bird

The red warbler is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family Parulidae endemic to the highlands of Mexico, north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is closely related to, and forms a superspecies with, the pink-headed warbler of southern Mexico and Guatemala. There are three subspecies, found in disjunct populations, which differ in the color of their ear patch and in the brightness and tone of their body plumage. The adult is bright red, with a white or gray ear patch, depending on the subspecies; young birds are pinkish-brown, with a whitish ear patch and two pale wingbars.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International. (2016). "Cardellina canadensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22721882A94737489. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22721882A94737489.en . Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 2. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 406–408, Plate 39 fig 4. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.
  3. 1 2 Allen, J.A. (1910). "Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 28: 317–335. hdl:2246/678.
  4. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 327.
  5. ↑ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1850). Conspectus generum avium (in Latin). Vol. 1. Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden]: E.J. Brill. p. 312.
  6. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "New World warblers, mitrospingid tanagers". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Canada Warbler—Life History". Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Canada Warbler—Identification". Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  9. ↑ Demko, Alana D.; Reitsma, Leonard R.; Staicer, Cynthia A. (October 2013). "Two song categories in the Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis)". The Auk. 130 (4): 609–16. doi: 10.1525/auk.2013.13059 . JSTOR   10.1525/auk.2013.13059. S2CID   83993091 . Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  10. ↑ Etterson, Matthew A. (2003). "An Observation of Singing by a Female-Plumaged Canada Warbler". Southeastern Naturalist. 2 (2): 419–22. doi:10.1656/1528-7092(2003)002[0419:aoosba]2.0.co;2. JSTOR   3878011. S2CID   86052159.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Canada Warbler". Audubon Guide to North American Birds. 13 November 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Canada warbler". Boreal Songbird Initiative. 25 February 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  13. ↑ Collins, Scott L.; James, Frances C.; Risser, Paul G. (1982). "Habitat Relationships of Wood Warblers Parulidae in Northern Central Minnesota". Oikos. 39 (1): 50–58. doi:10.2307/3544530. JSTOR   3544530 . Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  14. ↑ Chace, Jameson F.; Faccio, Steven D.; Chacko, Abraham (2009). "Canada Warbler Habitat Use of Northern Hardwoods in Vermont". Northeastern Naturalist. 16 (4): 491–500. doi:10.1656/045.016.n401. JSTOR   27744588. S2CID   86430663.
  15. ↑ Sabo, Stephen R. (June 1980). "Niche and Habitat Relations in Subalpine Bird Communities of the White Mountains of New Hampshire". Ecological Monographs. 50 (2): 241–59. doi:10.2307/1942481. JSTOR   1942481.
  16. ↑ Hanafin, Maurice (2006). "The Canada Warbler in County Clare—The Second for Western Palearctic" (PDF). Birding World. 19 (10): 429–34. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  17. ↑ Greenberg, Russell S.; Gradwohl, Judy A. (October 1980). "Observations of Paired Canada Warblers Wilsonia canadensis during Migration in Panama". Ibis. 122 (4): 509–12. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1980.tb00907.x.
  18. 1 2 "Species Profile: Canada Warbler". Species at Risk Public Registry. Government of Canada. May 29, 2014. Archived from the original on September 9, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  19. ↑ Hanafin 2006, p. 434.
  20. ↑ USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (2016). "Longevity Records of North American Birds". U.S. Geological Survey. Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  21. ↑ Byrd, Elon E.; Denton, Fred (August 1949). "The Helminth Parasites of Birds. II. A New Species of Acanthocephala from North American Birds". The Journal of Parasitology. 35 (4): 391–410. doi:10.2307/3273430. JSTOR   3273430. PMID   18133320.
  22. ↑ "Species Assessment Database". Partners in Flight. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 "Canada Warbler". American Bird Conservancy. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  24. ↑ USGS Paxtuxent Wildlife Research Center (2016). "Canada Warbler, Cardellina canadensis: North American Breeding Bird Survey Trend Results". U.S. Geological Survey. Department of Interior. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Warbler, Canada". Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Government of Canada. November 11, 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved June 5, 2014.

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