Hooded warbler

Wilsonia citrina

Photo by Paul Guris (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
hooded warbler (en); mariquita-de-capuz (pt); paruline à capuchon (fr); chipe encapuchado (es); kapuzenwaldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This species breeds in the eastern United States, from Connecticut to Wisconsin and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. They also breed in southern Ontario, Canada. They migrate south to winter in the Caribbean and in Central America from south-eastern Mexico to Panama.

Size:
These birds are 12-14 cm long and have a wingspan of 20-22 cm. They weigh 9-12 g.

Habitat:
The hooded warbler breeds within dense temperate forests with a well developed understory, generally avoiding the forest edge. The sexes use different wintering habitats, with males preferring moist tropical forests and females preferring scrublands.

Diet:
They feed mainly on small insects, spiders and other invertebrates, which they either pick from the foliage or catch in flight.

Breeding:
Hooded warblers breed in April-June. They are socially monogamous, but extra-pair paternity is common. The female builds the nest, a cup made of bark, dead leaves and other plant material placed in a low scrub on the forest understory. There she lays 3-5 eggs which are incubated for 12 days. The chicks are fed by both sexes and fledge 8-9 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 4 million individuals. The population has undergone a small decline over the last 4 decades, but it is not threatened at present.