A bright warbler whose "pleased pleased pleased to MEETcha" song echoes through young eastern forests. The species expanded dramatically after eastern reforestation in the 1800s.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The chestnut-sided warbler is a New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America and in southern Canada westwards to the Canadian Prairies. They also breed in the Great Lakes region and in the eastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia — Chestnut-sided warbler Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Breeding adult: yellow crown, black eye line and 'whisker', white underparts with rich chestnut flanks, two yellowish wing bars. Fall birds lime-green above with a white eye ring and clean gray underparts.
Similar species. Fall 'confusing' plumage is distinctive once learned — bright lime-green crown and white eye ring on a gray-and-white bird.
Voice. A cheerful 'pleased-pleased-pleased-to-MEETcha' with an emphatic ending.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Insects (caterpillars primary), spiders, occasional berries on migration.
Behavior. A bird of young second-growth and regenerating clearcuts; cocks its tail and droops its wings while foraging actively in the shrub layer.
§ Range
Eastern North American in summer; winters in Central America
§ Habitat
Young second-growth deciduous forest, brushy edges, cutovers
§ Threats
Forest maturation reducing young-forest habitat, fire suppression, tropical wintering loss.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the chestnut-sided warbler is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support young-forest management on conservation lands. Maintain brushy power-line corridors. Support tropical conservation.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Chestnut-sided warbler
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Setophaga pensylvanica
- IUCN Red List — search for Setophaga pensylvanica
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Setophaga pensylvanica
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
