Bird Watching: Nashville Warbler

The ornithologist Alexander Wilson apparently had some small success discovering warblers in Tennessee. [See my article on the Tennessee Warbler.] He also seemed not to realize that some of these warblers were not native to the state. For instance, he found a warbler in 1811 that he named the Nashville warbler; although, like the Tennessee warbler, you probably will not see it anywhere in Nashville, Tennessee. In fact, the closest this warbler will usually come to Nashville is the northern part of West Virginia.

The Nashville warbler (Vermivora ruficapilla) breeds primarily in Canada; i.e., British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. It does breed south into the United States, primarily in south to central California, central Idaho, western Maryland, and -- as previously mentioned -- northern West Virginia. They winter south of the United States-Mexican border, usually traveling at night. (You might conceivably see them in Nashville when they are migrating.) Settlers coming to the New World helped the population of the Nashville warbler tremendously by clearing forested areas for farmland. This warbler likes overgrown pasture land, as well as bushy areas at the edges of woods, thickets in open mixed forested areas, and brushy borders around swamps. They tend to build their nests, which, interestingly, they will sometimes build using porcupine quills along with other organic material, on the ground hidden under bushes or grass tussocks in which they lay 4-5 white eggs with brown speckles. Most warblers, specifically the females, incubate their young for 10-11 days. After hatching, both the males and the females feed the fledglings small insects; and the fledglings then leave the nest about 8-10 days later.

The Nashville warbler is 4-5 inches with a gray head with a narrow white ring around the eye and a rust patch on the crown. (The crown patch is not readily noticeable, so you will have to look closely to see it.) It has olive green upperparts with bright yellow underparts. It also has a distinctive yellow throat. In fact, it tends to be a bit brighter yellow than many other eastern warblers and also has more white underneath, as well as having a longer tail.

This little warbler dines almost exclusively on insects that it finds in on the tips of branches in trees. It makes a loud teebit-teebit-teebit and then a chipper-chipper-chipper-chipper sound.

Even though the Nashville warbler is not considered an endangered species, its population could suffer a decline as it loses its preferred habitat. Specifically, as more of the pastures and open forested areas turn into second-growth forests resulting in less ground cover, the Nashville warbler may not be as noticeable.

References:

Bull, John and John Farrand, Jr. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Edition. NY, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1994.

Eastman, John. Birds of Field and Shore. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2000.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All About Birds: Nashville Warbler