Blackpoll Warbler

“These birds fly 72-88 hours non-stop during migration.”

A Blackpoll Warbler is a songbird. It’s an omnivore eating mosquitoes, spiders, flies, and fruit. They live in an evergreen forest habitat. One of the most interesting facts about this bird is it travels non-stop on a migration route that proceeds over water.

4 Incredible Blackpoll Warbler Facts!

• The wingspan of this bird reaches up to nine inches.
• Male birds have an especially high-pitched song.
• It makes a cup-shaped nest out of spruce twigs, lichen, and hair.
• This bird is smaller in size than a sparrow.

Where to Find the Blackpoll Warbler

Blackpoll warblers live in North America, specifically Canada. Their migration route goes through the eastern part of the United States down to the northern part of South America. Though it’s temperate and rainy in some areas of Canada, its habitat is too cold for these songbirds in the wintertime.

Birdwatchers interested in seeing the blackpoll warbler are most likely to see them during the spring and fall seasons. Their migration route covers the eastern part of the United States. So, people can see them in the spring as they head up from South America back to Canada. Alternatively, birdwatchers can see them in the fall as they head south again for the winter. They don’t travel the same migration route for both seasons.

Blackpoll warblers are sometimes heard before they are seen and are known to sing much more in the spring than in the fall season. Plus, the colors of the male are more distinct in the springtime. This makes them easier to spot in their habitat.

Blackpoll Warbler Nests

Female blackpoll warblers usually build their nests in fir or spruce trees, close to the trunk. Some of these songbirds build a nest just six feet above the ground while others build them thirty feet up. The nest is the shape of a cup and with an exterior made of lichen and twigs. The inside of the nest is constructed out of hair or grass. Construction of the nest takes three to four days.

Scientific Name

The scientific name for this songbird is Setophaga striata. The word Setophaga refers to the genus of this bird while the Latin word striata translate to striped. A blackpoll warbler has a striped pattern on its wings. It is in the Parulidae family and the Aves class.

Some other species of warbler include:

• Black-and-white warbler
• Cape May warbler
• Bay-breasted warbler
• Blackburnian warbler

Size, Appearance, & Behavior

The differences in the colors of male and female blackpoll warblers make identification fairly easy. The male blackpoll warbler is named for the cap of black feathers on its head. It has a white breast and black and white stripes on its wings. A female has brown and white streaks on her head. Look closely and you’ll notice a yellowish tinge to the feathers on her head and breast. A female blackpoll warbler’s wings have black or brown and white stripes. The female has muted colors, whereas the male feather colors are bold.

This songbird is small in size at no more than five and a half inches in length. It weighs from 0.4 to 0.5 ounces. The wingspan of this bird is eight to nine inches. One of the most notable facts to use in its identification is this songbird is it has orange feet!

Blackpoll Warbler Migration Pattern and Timing

In the fall season, blackpoll warblers migrate south from Canada to South America. Their migration route in the fall runs south from Canada over the eastern part of the United States, over the Atlantic Ocean to the northern part of South America. Many of these tiny songbirds travel non-stop for 72 hours or more on their journey south. These birds travel north in the spring to breed in various parts of Canada. However, their migration route in the spring is not the same as the route they use in the fall.

Diet

This songbird is an omnivore. It finds food on the leaves in the tops of evergreen and deciduous trees.

What Does a Blackpoll Warbler Eat?

The diet of this bird includes spiders, beetles, mosquitoes, ants, and fruit. They increase their intake of food right before they start on their journey south in the fall season.

Predators, Threats, and Conservation Status

These small songbirds have several predators. Other animals attack adult birds as well as the eggs and chicks of blackpoll warblers.

What eats Blackpoll Warblers?

Hawks, owls, snakes, and cats eat adult blackpoll warblers. Blue jays are known to prey on the chicks and eggs of these songbirds.

These birds are categorized as Near Threatened. Their numbers are decreasing due to habitat loss. They are slowly losing their breeding ground made up of forests and shrublands.

Reproduction, Young, and Molting

In the spring, these birds lay from three to five white or pale green eggs with brown spots. The incubation period is 11 to 12 days. The baby birds or chicks, begin molting at around 10 days old. These young birds usually leave the nest at 11 or 12 days old before the molting process is finished.

Some blackpoll warblers have two clutches of eggs each spring.

Warbler Population

According to IUCN, this bird’s conservation status is Near Threatened. Their population is 59,000,000, though it’s reportedly in decline.