Haldenwald Warbler
| Haldenwald Warbler | ||||||||||||
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Haldenwald warbler ( Helmitheros vermivorum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Helmitheros | ||||||||||||
| Rafinesque , 1819 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Helmitheros vermivorum | ||||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1789) |
The Haldenwaldsänger ( Helmitheros vermivorum , Syn . : Helmitheros vermivorus ) is a small songbird in the family of the wood warbler (Parulidae) and the only species in the genus Helmitheros . The breeding areas are in the USA . During the winter the species migrates to Central America and the West Indies . The IUCN lists the species as "not endangered" (least concern).
The English name worm-eating warbler is a misnomer for the bird. The species does not feed on worms. The name is obviously derived from the fact that the species mainly feeds on caterpillars, although there is no difference to several other wood warbler species.
features
Appearance
Haldenwald warbler reach a body length of 13 centimeters and an average weight of 13 grams. The wing length is 6.6 to 7.3 centimeters in males and 6.3 to 7.0 centimeters in females. Adult Haldenwald warbler have wide blackish side stripes and a long blackish eye stripe from the reins to the neck. The rest of the head plumage and the neck with olive-brown spots on the sides of the neck is brown-yellow. The upper side plumage is olive brown and the wings and the control feathers blackish-brown with olive-brown edges. The throat and upper breast plumage is brown-yellow, on the belly and on the lower tail-coverts the plumage is pale beige-olive. The long and thorn-like beak is pale horn-colored with a dark beak ridge. It is visibly narrower than the Swainson's wood warbler ( Limnothlypis swainsonii ). The legs are pink-flesh-colored.
In the youth dress the side stripes and the eye stripes are darkly colored. Most of the plumage is beige. The coat is brownish and the belly and the under tail-coverts pale beige. The medium and large arm covers have narrow pale cinnamon-brown hems and form two indistinct wing bands. The beak and legs are paler than in the adult animals.
Voice and singing
The voice is a sharp and lovely "tchip". It is similar to that of the Swainson Wood Warbler, but is softer. Furthermore, a short, hurried, slightly lively "zeet-zeet" can be heard in flight and on the ground.
The singing is performed monotonously and consists of a short and powerful trill. It is very similar to that of the Schwirrammer ( Spizella passerina ) and that of the pine wood warbler ( Dendroica pinus ). Occasionally, the vocals are played attenuated in flight.
Habitat, Nutrition and Reproduction
During the breeding season, Haldenwald warbler inhabit wooded mountain slopes and gorges with a lot of undergrowth, mostly close to small streams and rivers. During the migration they occur in all types of forest with dense undergrowth. In the winter areas they mainly refer to low-lying tropical rainforests below 1500 meters. Sometimes they move up to a height of 2000 meters.
Their food consists of insects and spiders, which they look for in the undergrowth or in trees up to a height of 10 meters. Often they examine dry clusters of leaves. They prefer to show this behavior in winter. They can also occasionally be seen foraging on the ground, turning leaves to get to the underside.
The breeding season is from May to June. They put the bowl-shaped nest well hidden on the ground. Often a bush or a seedling is chosen. They use wilted leaves as nesting material and hair, moss or the stalks of maple seeds for lining. A clutch consists of three to six eggs, but usually four to five eggs. The development time is about 13 days, the nestling time 10 days. In order to distract predators from the nest, the females can fake injuries.
Spread and migration
Their breeding areas extend in the east of the USA northward to the north of Indiana , Ohio , Pennsylvania and New England as well as westward to Missouri and to the extreme east and extreme northeast of Oklahoma . Over the winter, the birds migrate to Central America (from southern Mexico to Panama ) and the West Indies (usually the Bahamas and Greater Antilles ). In Venezuela , too, an individual was found once in the winter.
The eastern breeding birds migrate along the Atlantic coast to Florida and on to the West Indies; the breeding birds in the western areas migrate south through the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico . From there most of them fly over the Yucatán Strait or east to Veracruz in their winter areas. Part of it continues along the Gulf of Mexico to the winter areas.
The birds begin their migration in mid-August. Most of them reach their winter areas in mid-September. The return migration to the breeding areas begins in early March. In the southern breeding areas the birds arrive in mid-April, the northern breeding areas reach the animals in mid-May.
Within the United States, the birds occasionally migrate to Nebraska and Kansas . In these two states, too, broods have already taken place. They rarely move to California in the spring . There are also hikes to Nevada , Wyoming , Colorado , Arizona , New Mexico , North Dakota , South Dakota and New England as well as to Saskatchewan , Ontario , Québec , New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada.
swell
literature
- Jon Curson, David Quinn, David Beadle: New World Warblers. Helm, London 1994, ISBN 0-7136-3932-6 , pp. 52 and 163.
Web links
- Helmitheros vermivorum in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2011. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Accessed August 24, 2011th