Blue Back Warbler
Blue Back Warbler | ||||||||||||
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Male Blue-backed Warbler ( Setophaga caerulescens ) feeds its young |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Setophaga caerulescens | ||||||||||||
( Gmelin , 1789) |
The blue-backed wood warbler ( Setophaga caerulescens , Syn . : Dendroica caerulescens ) is a small insectivorous bird in the wood warbler family (Parulidae).
features
Male blue-backed warblers have white plumage on the underside with a black throat, black face and black flanks. The top has a dark blue color. Females have an olive-brown upper side with darker wing-coverts and tail feathers and a light yellow underside, as well as a gray crown on the head. The female wears a white semicircle under the eye and a white stripe above the eye. Not yet fully developed male juveniles resemble the adult males, but they have a greenish plumage on the upper side. In both sexes there are white spots on the wings, but these are not always visible. The legs, eyes and small, thin, pointed beak are black in color.
nutrition
Their diet consists mainly of insects that they track down in the low vegetation or catch in flight. In winter, they add fruits , berries and seeds to their diet . They are important for North American forests as they devour many pests and the caterpillars of harmful insects.
Reproduction
The female builds a bowl-shaped nest out of materials like bark, dead leaves, and cobwebs that are attached to each other with saliva. Two to five eggs are laid in the nest. The chicks hatch after about twelve to thirteen days.
Occurrence
Blue-backed warblers inhabit mixed deciduous forests or the dense undergrowth in shrubbery during the breeding season, including southwest in Ontario and in northern Minnesota , south to New York and Pennsylvania . In winter they move to the tropical forests of Central America , including the Antilles and other islands in the Caribbean . The blue-backed warbler is a rare guest in Western Europe .
literature
- Jon Curson, David Quinn, David Beadle: New World Warblers. Helm, London 1994, ISBN 0-7136-3932-6 .
Web links
- Setophaga caerulescens in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on December 18 of 2008.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Setophaga caerulescens in the Internet Bird Collection
- Feathers of the Blue Back Wood Warbler