Lucy's warbler | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Parulidae |
Genus: | Leiothlypis |
Species: | L. luciae |
Binomial name | |
Leiothlypis luciae (Cooper, 1861) | |
Range of L. luciae Breeding range Year-round range Winter range | |
Synonyms | |
Vermivora luciae |
Lucy's warbler (Leiothlypis luciae) is a small New World warbler found in North America. This species ranges includes southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is one of only two warblers to nest in cavities.
Lucy's warbler is the smallest species of New World warbler. It measures from 9 to 12 cm (3.5 to 4.7 in) in length and can weigh from 5.1 to 7.9 g (0.18 to 0.28 oz), thus being slightly smaller even than the warblers formerly placed in the genus Parula . Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 49 to 61 mm (1.9 to 2.4 in), the tail is 33 to 41 mm (1.3 to 1.6 in), the bill is 7.8 to 9 mm (0.31 to 0.35 in) and the tarsus is 15 to 17.5 mm (0.59 to 0.69 in). [2]
It is rather nondescript compared to other wood-warblers, being perhaps the palest species in its family. Its head and upperparts are pale gray, while underparts are whitish. It has a white eyering and a small, pointed bill. Both sexes have a rufous rump, a diagnostic field mark. Adult males also have a small rusty patch on their crown. Juveniles are paler, with a tawny rump and buffy wingbars.
Lucy's warbler is closely related to Virginia's warbler, Nashville warbler and Colima warbler. The common name and binomial of this species commemorate Lucy Hunter Baird, daughter of ornithologist Spencer Fullerton Baird.
Lucy's warblers inhabit riparian mesquite and brushy country of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It can nest in the driest vegetated stretches of the Sonora Desert and nest in possibly the driest habitats of any New World warbler. [3]
Lucy's is the only warbler besides prothonotary to nest in cavities. It uses natural cavities in cactus or trees or holes excavated by woodpeckers or verdin in prior years. Unlike the prothonotary, Lucy's warbler has been known to utilize man-made nest boxes, even using a hollowed-out gourd. [4] If using a woodpecker hole, the warbler may fill the cavity nearly to the top with debris and put the nest on top so the small birds can see outside of it. This species nests in some of the densest aggregations of any warbler, with as many as 12 pairs per ha/5 pairs per acre. The birds migrate to western Mexico in winter. [3] [5]
These strictly insectivorous birds forage actively, looking for the caterpillars, beetles, and leafhoppers that compose much of their diet. When they capture caterpillars, they shake it vigorously and skin off the prickly hairs on the backs before consumption. [3]
Habitat loss is the main threat to this species, with riparian habitats in its range being developed extensive. To a lesser extent, brown-headed cowbird parasitism is also threatening this species. Populations are diminishing throughout its breeding range.
The northern flicker or common flicker is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer, clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls.
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The red-breasted sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the forests of the west coast of North America.
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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.
The Nashville warbler is a small songbird in the New World warbler family, found in North and Central America. It breeds in parts of the northern and western United States and southern Canada, and migrates to winter in southern California and Texas, Mexico, and the north of Central America. It has a gray head and a green back, and its underparts are yellow and white.
The prothonotary warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. It is the only member of the genus Protonotaria.
The orange-crowned warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.
The Colima warbler is a New World warbler. It is mainly found in the Sierra Madre Occidental and Oriental mountains of central Mexico, though its range just barely extends into adjacent southwestern Texas in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park.
Virginia's warbler is a species of New World warbler.
Vermivora is a genus of New World warblers.
The Grey-capped Warbler is a species of bird in the Cisticola family Cisticolidae. It is the only species in the genus Eminia. The Grey-capped Warbler is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is a large, chunky, thin-tailed-warbler with a distinctive grey cap, a black band around its head, and a chestnut throat wrapping its neck. Grey-capped Warblers maintain a diet of insects and other invertebrates, including caterpillars, moths, grasshoppers, and mantids.