Pine warbler

Dendroica pinus

Photo by Ken Thomas (Wikipedia)

Common name:
pine warbler (en); mariquita-dos-pinhais (pt); paruline des pins (fr); reinita del pinar (es); kiefer-waldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This species breeds in south-eastern Canada and in the eastern United States, as far west as south-eastern Manitoba and north-eastern Texas, and also in the north-western Bahamas and in the island of Hispaniola.

Size:
These birds are 13-14 cm long and have a wingspan of 19-23 cm. They weigh 7-17 g.

Habitat:
The pine warbler is mostly found in pine forests in temperate areas, also using mixed pine-deciduous forests, and moist tropical forests. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 2.100 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on caterpillars and other arthropods such as beetles, grasshoppers, bugs, ants, bees, flies, cockroach eggs and spiders. During winter they also eat pine seeds and other seeds, berries and fruits.

Breeding:
Pine warblers are monogamous and breed in March-July. The nest is mainly built by the female, consisting of a compact cup made of grass, plant stems and fibres, bark strips, pine needles, twigs, and fine roots, bound together with spider or caterpillar silk and lined with feathers, hair, and plant down. The nest is almost always placed in a pine Pinus tree, most often on an horizontal branch but sometimes also on a fork, 3-35 m above the ground. The female lays 3-5 white, greyish or greenish-white eggs with brown speckles, which she incubates alone for 10-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 10 days after hatching. Each pair can raise 1-3 broods per season.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 13 million individuals. The population has increased by 15% per decade over the last 4 decades.