Townsend's Warbler
Setophaga townsendi
Brightly-colored warbler with a contrasting face pattern with dark cheeks and crown surrounded by bright yellow. Also shows olive back, bold white wingbars, and yellow on the breast. Intensity of color varies with age and sex; adult males are brightest, with black throat, while immatures are more washed out with a pale yellowish throat. Breeds in mature coniferous forests in northwestern North America. Winters from the Pacific coast of the U.S. to Costa Rica, with large numbers especially in the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala. Usually stays in the canopy. Sometimes gathers in large mixed flocks with other warblers and small songbirds, especially on the wintering grounds. Compare with plainer-faced Hermit Warbler, and beware that hybrids occur. Also similar to Black-throated Green Warbler, which overlaps in range most often on the wintering grounds; note Townsend’s darker cheeks and more extensive yellow on breast.
Identification
Townsend's warbler has a yellow face with a black stripe across its cheeks extending into an ear patch, a thin pointed bill, two white wing bars, olive upperparts with black streaks on their backs and flanks, and a white belly. Adult males have a black cap, black throat and yellow lower breast; females have a dark cap and a yellow throat. Immature birds are similar to females with a dark green cap and cheeks.
Taxonomy
Townsend's warbler was formally described in 1837 by the American naturalist John Kirk Townsend under the binomial name Sylvia townsendi. The type locality is Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River in the state of Washington. After the merger of the genera Dendroica and Setophaga, Townsend's warbler is now placed in the genus Setophaga that was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Setophaga townsendi
- Authority
- (Townsend, JK, 1837)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Parulidae
- Genus
- Setophaga
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- NA : se Alaska, w Canada and nw USA
- Non-breeding range
- MA
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Active little bird found in wide variety of scrubby, brushy, and lightly wooded habitats from lowlands to the high Andes. Often in pairs, hopping in bushes and brush with tail often held cocked; can be difficult to see well as it constantly flits about. Best identified by small size, recurved “devil horn” crest, and staring pale eyes; breast streaking finer and less striking than on Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant, which has limited range overlap with Tufted Tit-Tyrant.
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