The crescent-chested warbler (''Oreothlypis superciliosa'') is a small
New World warbler
The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds that make up the family Parulidae and are restricted to the New World. The family contains 120 species. They are not closely related to Old World warb ...
. It is common throughout its
montane
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...
range, from northern Mexico to northern Nicaragua, and is an occasional
vagrant
Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...
to
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. It shows an affinity for
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
s.
Description
The crescent-chested warbler is superficially similar to both the
northern parula
The northern parula (''Setophaga americana'') is a small New World warbler. It is migratory and breeds in eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida.
Taxonomy
The northern parula was Species description, formally described in 1758 by ...
and the
tropical parula, with yellow underparts, a gray head, and a greenish back, but neither of these has a bold white eyebrow. Adult males have a discrete chestnut crescent on the breast, which is less prominent and sometimes lacking in females and young birds.
Diet
These monogamous, solitary birds become more gregarious in winter, joining mixed-species flocks to feed (mostly insects, but sometimes fruits and berries in the middle to upper levels of trees). It jumps from twigs and foliage, picking food from the underside of leaves, and hanging beneath leaves in a fashion similar to
chickadees
The chickadees are a group of North American birds in the family Paridae included in the genus '' Poecile''. Species found in North America are referred to as chickadees; species found elsewhere in the world are called tits. They are small-si ...
to check surfaces for prey.
Breeding
Crescent-chested warblers make their nests atop grassy
tussocks or sheltered by a hill or bank near the ground. Usually they will have 1 – 2 broods a year. The female is believed to build the
nest
A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...
without help from the male, gathering moss, grass, conifer needles, and fine materials to line the nest. She will then lay approximately three plain white eggs. Incubation is estimated to last 12 – 14 days by the female. The chicks are
altricial
Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...
and are also brooded by the female, and fed by both sexes. The young stay in the nest for an estimated 8–10 days.
References
* Alsop, ''Birds of North America''
Further reading
*
External links
Crescent-chested warbler in Madera Canyon, Arizona
crescent-chested warbler
crescent-chested warbler
Meso-American montane bird species
{{Parulidae-stub