Townsend's Warbler
Supersp #45
Dendroica townsendi Townsend

 

 

 

Field Guide IDs:
NG-376; G-280; PW-pl 50; AW-pl 415; AM(III)-138


Nest
Location
Nest
Type
Eggs &
Mating System
Dev. &
Parental Care
Primary &
2ndary Diet
..
Foraging
Strategy
FM?
I: 12? DAYS
ALTRICIAL
8 feet - 15 feet
(7 feet - 60 feet)
MF(?)
4-5
(3-5)
MONOG
F: 8-10(?) DAYS
F-M?

HAWKS

BREEDING:

Conif and conif-decid forests.? broods.

DISPLAYS:

?

NEST:

Usu far out on horizontal branch of fir; relatively shallow, of grass, moss, cedar bark, fir twigs, plant fibers, lined with moss, feathers, hair.

EGGS:

White, marked with browns, usu mostly at large end but not wreathed. 0.7" (18 mm).

DIET:

Largely or entirely insects; also few seeds, plant galls.

CONSERVATION:

Winters s through highlands of Mexico to Costa Rica. Rare cowbird host.

NOTES:

Female allows close approach when incubating, then drops to ground and disappears. During summer, activities confined to highest parts of trees. In winter in N.A., joins mixed-species flocks of chickadees, nuthatches, etc.; in Mexico and C.A., often gregarious, forming single-species flocks and feeding on fruit and nectar. Birds breeding on islands off BC winter in U.S. and have longer wings and smaller bills than birds breeding elsewhere and wintering s of U.S.

STANFORD. NOTES:

Uncommon migrant and winter resident in various habitat types throughout campus. A few can be found in oaks and eucalyptus trees near the Mausoleum in fall and winter.

ESSAYS:

Species and Speciation; Superspecies; Bird Guilds; Decline of Eastern Songbirds; Mixed-Species Flocking; Wintering and Conservation

REFERENCES:

Harrison, 1984; Morrison, 1983.