Prothonotary Warbler
Protonotaria citrea
Description
The Prothonotary
Warbler is a large, heavy-bodied, brightly coloured bird. Distinguishing
features, generally include a yellow, orange or yellowish olive coloured
head and underparts, a white underbelly, greenish upperparts and a grey
tail with whitish spots.The species' distinguishing features, vary with
age and sex. Females are duller than males and immatures are duller than
adults.
Habitat
The Prothonotary Warbler is a local summer resident that has a preference for dark and damp lowland woods and bottomland hardwood forests.
Song
The song
is quite simple and is composed of a single syllable that is repeated
from 4 to 14 times in a series that is amplified at the end of the song
and is represented by "sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet" or "tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet."
Similar Species
Blue-winged Warbler and Yellow Warbler
Comments
This species is insectivorous and spends much of its foraging time gleaning for insects in leaves, twigs and branches, but will also eat molluscs and isopods. It moves by hopping along branches on trees and shrubs, downed logs and on the ground when foraging for food. Males establish their territory soon after the spring arrival and show aggression towards other males with intense and frequent vocalizations.
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