Orange-crowned Warbler
Leiothlypis celata
Nondescript warbler, generally olive-colored overall, but different populations vary from grayer to brighter yellow. Overall very plain and unmarked, but note short darkish line through eye and thin pale eye arcs. Forages for insects in scrubby areas, woodland edge, and thickets. Namesake orange crown is very difficult to see, and usually only a faint wash at best. More common in western North America, from Alaska to Mexico, where populations are brighter yellow-green. Birds in eastern North America are scarcer and drabber, often with a more contrasting grayish head. Bright yellow undertail coverts help separate Orange-crowned from the similarly drab Tennessee Warbler.
Identification
The orange-crowned warbler has olive-grey upperparts, yellowish underparts with faint streaking and a thin pointed bill. It has a faint line over each eye and a faint broken eye ring. The orange patch on the crown is usually not visible. Females and immatures are duller in colour than males. Western birds are yellower than eastern birds. Orange-crowned warblers are distinguished by their lack of wing bars, streaking on the underparts, strong face marking or bright colouring, resembling a fall Tennessee warbler and a black-throated blue warbler, both of which are also members of the New World warbler family.<p>The song of is a trill, descending in pitch and volume. The call is a high chip.
Taxonomy
The orange-crowned warbler was formally described in 1822 by the American zoologist Thomas Say under the binomial name Sylvia celatus from a specimen collected on an expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains led by Stephen Harriman Long. The specific epithet celatus is Latin and means "secret" or "hidden". The type locality is Omaha, Nebraska. The orange-crowned warbler is now placed in the genus Leiothlypis that was introduced by the Dutch ornithologist George Sangster in 2008. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek λειος/leios meaning "plain" and θλυπις/thlupis, an unknown small bird mentioned by Aristotle.<p>Four subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Leiothlypis celata
- Authority
- (Say, 1822)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Parulidae
- Genus
- Leiothlypis
Range and habitat
Their breeding habitat is open shrubby areas across Canada, Alaska and the western United States. These birds migrate in the winter to the southern United States and south to Central America. Although they are quite common in the western United States, they are uncommon in the east.
- Breeding range
- NA : w, n
- Non-breeding range
- MA
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The nest is a small open cup well-concealed on the ground under vegetation or low in shrubs. The female builds the nest; four to six eggs are laid in a nest on the ground or in a low bush. Both parents feed the young.<p>They forage actively in low shrubs, flying from perch to perch, sometimes hovering. These birds eat insects, berries and nectar.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Eurasian Blue Tit
Cyanistes caeruleus
Brightly-colored inhabitant of wooded and forested habitats, parks, gardens, and hedges in farmland. Plumage distinctive, with blue cap, white face with dark line through eyes, yellow underparts. Smaller and more active than Great Tit, which often occurs alongside Eurasian Blue Tit but has a very different head pattern, different calls. Juvenile (seen in summer–early autumn) has yellowish wash to face, drabber plumage overall. Often visits bird feeders and uses nest boxes. Listen for variable high-pitched vocalizations, as well as harsh scolding calls.
Spotted Sandgrouse
Pterocles senegallus
A medium-sized pallid and delicately-patterned sandgrouse. Pale and sandy overall. Note male’s silver-gray eyebrow and orange cheek and throat. Female has a paler version of the male’s pattern, as well as a speckled nape and chest. Lacks breast bands, unlike Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse. Very similar to Crowned Sandgrouse, but note the present species’ tail filaments and different facial pattern. Note the strong contrast in two-toned underwings when in flight. Flight call is a characteristic “Waka! Waka!” Favors sandy or stony desert plains where it breeds on the ground. Congregates to drink in waterholes in the morning, often flying back and forth over long distances in large flocks.
Reddish-winged Bare-eye
Phlegopsis erythroptera
Large, handsome antbird with a bare red eye-ring. Males are black with chestnut wing patches and have white scales above. Females are chestnut with white wingbars. Inhabits the understory of humid forests, but has also been recorded in white sand forests. Only forages at army-ant swarms. The song is a series of nasal descending whistles. Both sexes of the Black-spotted Bare-Eye have brown-olive wings and backs covered with large black spots.
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