A small Pacific Northwest warbler with yellow face. Closely related to Townsend's Warbler.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The hermit warbler is a small perching bird. It is a species of New World warbler or wood-warbler. They are a migratory bird, the breeding range spanning the majority of the west coast of the United States. Their winter range includes parts of Mexico and Central America as well as parts of the southern California coast.
Source: Wikipedia — Hermit warbler Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Clean bright yellow face with no markings, black throat (males) or yellowish (females), gray back, white underparts, two white wing bars.
Similar species. Townsend's Warbler overlaps and hybridizes; Townsend's has a dark cheek patch and yellow breast with streaking. Black-throated Green has olive (not gray) upperparts.
Voice. A high, buzzy 'seezle-seezle-seezle-zeet-zeet' from the canopy.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Insects (caterpillars primary), spiders, occasional berries on migration.
Behavior. Forages high in tall western conifers, especially Douglas-fir; often stays in the treetops where it can be hard to see despite being common.
§ Range
Pacific Northwest
§ Habitat
Coniferous forests
§ Threats
Forest loss, climate change.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the hermit warbler is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support Pacific Northwest forest conservation.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Hermit warbler
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Setophaga occidentalis
- IUCN Red List — search for Setophaga occidentalis
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Setophaga occidentalis
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
