Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 5.5–5.9 in
14–15 cm - Weight
- 0.5 oz
14 g
Other Names
- Paruline de Kirtland (French)
Cool Facts
- The Kirtland's Warbler requires areas with small jack pines for nesting. The jack pine requires fire to open its cones and spread its seeds. The warbler first appears in an area about six years after a fire when the new growth is dense and is about 1.5 to 2.0 meters (5.0-6.5 feet) high. After about 15 years, when the trees are 3.0 to 5.0 meters (10.0 to 16.5 feet) high, the warbler leaves the area.
- The female Kirtland's Warbler is more selective than the male in her choice of habitat, and the best areas attract more females than males. The last residents of a tract that is getting too old are always unmated males.
Habitat
Open Woodland
Breeds in scrubby jack pine. Winters in low scrub, thickets, and (rarely) deciduous woodland.
Food
Insects
Insects and small fruits.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 3–6 eggs
- Egg Description
- White or buff, with varying amounts of fine brown spots concentrated around large end.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless.
Nest Description
Open cup of grass, sedges, pine needles, and pieces of leaves, lined with rootlets, plant fibers, and hair. Placed in depression in ground, often with overhanging tuft of grass.
Nest Placement
Ground
Behavior
Foliage Gleaner
Forages on ground and in midlevels of small trees, gleaning insects.
Conservation
Near Threatened
Endangered species. Fire suppression led to decline in suitable habitat for nesting. Nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbird caused further decline in species. Extensive measures currently taken to provide adequate nesting habitat and to control cowbird numbers.
Credits
- Mayfield, Harold F. 1992. Kirtland's Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii). In The Birds of North America, No. 19 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.