Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 3.9–4.7 in
10–12 cm - Wingspan
- 6.7–7.9 in
17–20 cm - Weight
- 0.2–0.4 oz
7–12 g
Other Names
- Paruline à joues grises, Fauvette à joues grises (French)
- Reinita capigris (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The Nashville Warbler sometimes uses porcupine quills as nest material.
- Most first-year Nashville Warblers migrate along the Atlantic coast, while adults tend to migrate along inland routes.
- The Nashville Warbler does not regularly breed near Nashville, Tennessee, but was first observed there in 1811 by Alexander Wilson, who named the species.
- The western population of the Nashville Warbler was once considered a separate species, called the "Calaveras Warbler." It is slightly brighter than eastern birds, with a brighter yellow rump, more extensive white feathers on the lower belly, and a slightly longer tail.
Habitat
Forest
Second-growth deciduous or mixed forest with shrubby undergrowth.
Food
Insects
Insects and insect larvae.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 3–6 eggs
- Egg Description
- White, usually specked with brown.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless with some sparse dark brown down.
Nest Description
A neat cup of moss, bark, leaves, and grasses, lined with fine grass, pine needles, hair, or other fiber. Located on the ground under brushy vegetation or small trees.
Nest Placement
Ground
Behavior
Foliage Gleaner
Gleans insects from the tips of branches and flower tassels of trees.
Conservation
Least Concern
Clearing of forested land may have benefited the Nashville Warbler by creating more of its preferred second-growth habitat.
Credits
- Williams, J. M. 1996. Nashville Warbler (Vermivora ruficapilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 205 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and the American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.