Yellow warblers (Setophaga petechia) are brilliantly colored, bright yellow with chestnut streaks on the breast. They raise their young in thicket species like willow, native plum, native roses, blackberry, raspberry, and dogwood. Once two warblers pair off, the female warbler will find a suitable place to build a nest, perhaps in the fork of a willow limb. For four days she will delicately construct her home, first laying down nettle then weaving the fibers around smaller twigs on the tree. Bark and other plant material comes after, giving structure and solidity to the nest. She uses spider silk to secure the nest to the tree, then collects hair from deer or rabbits and the fluff from cattails, cottonwoods and willows to complete the cozy interior. With the nest finished, she now lays a small, gray, speckled egg. The next morning she will lay another, and continue until there are four or five eggs. She will rarely leave the nest, only to quickly glean an insect or two from a nearby branch, as her mate will carry the responsibility for bringing food. Eleven days later tiny, helpless warbler babies emerge covered in a smoky-gray down feathers.
The next 9-12 days are tremendously difficult for the warbler parents as they expend enormous amounts of energy to keep the brood fed. Studies have shown that even trans-Gulf of Mexico migrations, where birds must fly five hundred miles non-stop, are significantly less stressful and physically taxing than the nestling period when young are completely reliant on food brought to them. One observer counted a male Yellow Warbler making 813 trips within the nestlings first week of life, with the female of the pair bringing food 1,560 times before the nestlings left the nest. Parent warblers often catch multiple caterpillars or other insects on one trip, increasing their productivity. Thicket areas are commonly hunted, where warblers can glean insects off of leaves. Only certain insect body types will work when feeding young, so the warbler must be particular. Hard-shelled beetles and wasps aren't as acceptable to the nestlings, they prefer soft Lepidoptera larvae or other easily digestible arthropods. While collecting these food items, warblers must be aware and dodge predators such as kestrels, shrikes, snakes, crows, bluejays, squirrels, raccoons, and others. They must also stealthily approach their nest in the thicket so as to not alert predators to its location. This particular nest that is pictured was placed in the protection of a native black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) thicket.
Although migratory songbirds are often vibrantly colored and appear right at home in the tropical lands where they winter, it is the time they spent in the northern forests that necessitates these beautiful plumages, the migratory behavior and their melodious songs.
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The female Yellow Warbler must sit upon the eggs for about eleven days, keeping her warm body next to them in order to maintain about 100F temperature. She may briefly leave her eggs to hunt for insects nearby, but most of her food will be provided by her mate so she doesn't need to leave the nest, as shown here.
A female warbler spends four full days constructing a nest, commonly choosing a thicket location from 1ft to 10ft off the ground. The nest will be made from various native plants and materials, including fiberous nettles, tree bark, fluff from cottonwoods or cattails, spider silk, and grasses. This particular nest was placed in the protection of a native black raspberry (rubus occidentalis) thicket.
Over the course of the first 9-12 days of the young's life, the parent warblers will expend massive amounts of energy and time in order to keep the helpless nestlings fed. They will fearlessly chase off larger predators and will make hundreds of trips to and from the nest with multiple food items for their babies. A parent warbler is shown here feeding her brood.
A male Yellow Warbler sings out from a red twig dogwood thicket, hoping to find a mate. He may have just traveled from a mangrove forest in Venezuela, or from the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil - both wintering grounds for this species.
Yellow Warblers will make short flights or hover to catch insects, as well as glean insects from leaves. They consume butterfly and moth larvae, beetles, leafhoppers, midges, flies, spiders, and other small creatures. The warbler shown here holds onto an Elm (Ulmus) branch while gleaning an insect from a lower leaf.
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