Connecticut warbler

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Connecticut warbler

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Parulidae
Genus: Oporornis
Baird, 1858
Species:
O. agilis
Binomial name
Oporornis agilis
(Wilson, 1812)
Range of O. agilis
  Breeding range
  Winter range

The Connecticut warbler (Oporornis agilis) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

Description

These medium-sized warblers measure 13–15 cm (5.1–5.9 in) in length, with a 22–23 cm (8.7–9.1 in) wingspan.[2][3] Connecticut warblers weigh 10 g (0.35 oz) when they fledge, attaining an average weight of around 15 g (0.53 oz) as adults. However, birds preparing for migration pack on more weight to survive the strenuous journey and can weigh up to 25 g (0.88 oz).[4][5] This species has light yellow underparts and olive upperparts; they have a light eye-ring, pink legs, a long tail, and a thin pointed bill. Males have a grey hood; females and immatures are more brown and have a whitish throat.

Male (atop) and female Connecticut warbler. Note how dull the female is in contrast to the male.

They forage on the ground, picking among dead leaves, or hop along branches. Like most warblers, these birds mainly eat insects and similar small invertebrates. Specifically, they eat spiders, snails, and caterpillars.[6] They will also supplement their diet occasionally with seeds and berries. They are "skulking" birds that usually spend their time foraging within dense, low vegetation. Such behavior often renders them difficult to see well.

Despite its name, this bird only rarely visits Connecticut during migration. It was named by Alexander Wilson who observed the first classified specimen. They are fairly elusive birds, but it appears that their numbers may be declining due to loss of winter habitat.

Taxonomy

Most classification systems consider the genus to be monophyletic. It used to be considered paraphyletic, and it was paired with the

Geothlypis.[7]

Habitat

Their breeding habitat is

Great Lakes. These habitats tend to be in rather remote areas that are hard to access for fieldwork; therefore, there is little data available on this species of birds.[7] The nest is an open cup well-concealed in moss or a clump of grass. It is made of "dry grasses, stalk of weeds, and horsehairs".[8]

Breeding

Courtship begins right after the migrants arrive on their breeding grounds. It correlates with the time when males start to sing as this is how they court females. Couples have one brood per season. Connecticut warblers like to nest in thick understory where their young are protected from predators. Most lay in mid-June, though some populations have been observed to lay in July. Their eggs have a creamy color and they are speckled and blotched with chestnut and bay. Only females incubate. Fledglings are observed in late July and at the latest at the end of August. Both parents feed their young caterpillars, larvae, moths, and berries.[8]

Vocalization

The song of this bird is a loud repeated cheepa-cheepa. It's "similar in pitch to the Kentucky warbler and the Ovenbird".[9] The call is a nasal pitch, it sounds like a raspy "witch". Like many songbirds, its song is heard during the breeding season but rarely during the fall.[9]

Behavior

The Connecticut warbler walks on the ground to forage insects and other sources of food. Its tail bobs up and down, which is reminiscent of

hectares.[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oporornis agilis.

When it comes to parental care, both the male and the female will feed the juvenile.[6] They will defend their young by screeching at predators.

Migration

As mentioned earlier, the Connecticut warbler is an elusive species. Little is known about it outside of the breeding season as to this date, less than 25,000 individuals have been banded.[11] These birds migrate to the Amazon Basin in South America in winter. Specimens have been observed in Colombia (north & southeast), Venezuela (northeast & interior), Guyana (at the border), and Peru (South).[11] Connecticut warblers undertake different migratory routes in spring and in fall, an atypical behavior. In spring, they normally pass through the Midwest and only rarely migrate to the East Coast, but in fall, larger numbers of migrating birds move through the East Coast. Recently, the use of small tracking devices has enabled scientists to gather more data on the warbler's migration routes. They have discovered some individuals fly over open water like the Blackpoll warbler. More specifically, they recorded a previously undocumented two-day flight over the Caribbean to the Antilles.[11] This correlates with sightings of Connecticut warblers that have occurred in Bermuda, St. Thomas and St Martin. Haiti on the island of Hispaniola is also a popular stop, but records there are hard to find due to the terrain being rather remote and past humanitarian crises; it is also additionally threatened by the ongoing deforestation in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.[11] There, they make a minimum of 48-hour stop (it usually lasts 5–7 days) in the Caribbean. This long migration over open water calls for strong selective pressures. A comparative study between the Connecticut warbler and the blackpoll warbler could help determine what selective pressures are present in these two species. This kind of migration also demands large reserves of fuel and this is why fat Connecticut warblers can be found on the East Coast in early fall.[11] It's also the reason why they make several stopovers on their way South.

Current threats

One of the main causes of mortality during migration is the collision of individuals into man-made structures. Collisions often occur against transparent glass panes, through which individuals can see vegetation and light.

IUCN red list as a species of Least Concern.[14] Nevertheless, some of its populations in Saskatchewan, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are at risk. Conservation efforts are difficult due to a lack of research, though a handful of researchers have written some management plans, focusing on the preservation of woody wetlands, which are the Connecticut warbler's favored habitat.[13]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22721818A94732832.en
    . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Connecticut Warbler, Life History, All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology". Allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2013-02-23.
  3. ^ "Connecticut warbler videos, photos and facts – Oporornis agilis". ARKive. 2013-02-19. Archived from the original on 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2013-02-23.
  4. JSTOR 4082276
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-8493-4258-5
    .
  6. ^ a b "Connecticut Warbler". 13 November 2014.
  7. ^
    S2CID 216409315
    . Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  8. ^
    S2CID 216409315
    .
  9. ^
    S2CID 216409315
    .
  10. ^ migrationhttps://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/conwar/conservation
  11. ^
    PMID 28497867
    .
  12. JSTOR 4086601
    .
  13. ^
    S2CID 216409315
    .
  14. ^ "Connecticut Warbler Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology".

Further reading

Books

  • Pitocchelli, J., J. Bouchie, and D. Jones. 1997. Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis). In The Birds of North America, No. 320 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Report

  • Cooper JM, Enns KA & Shepard MG. (1997). Status of the Connecticut warbler in British Columbia. Canadian Research Index. p. n/a.

Articles

External links
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