Palm Warbler (Crum Woods Biodiversity Guide)

Palm Warbler

Setophaga palmarum

Summary ⁴

The Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

Setophaga palmarum ⁵

A medium-sized (4 ½ -5 ½ inches) wood warbler, the Palm Warbler in summer is most easily identified by its dark brown back, streaked flanks, and conspicuous rusty crown. Two subspecies exist: an eastern subspecies, which has predominantly yellow underparts; and a western subspecies, which has some white on the breast and yellow elsewhere. Male and female Palm Warblers are similar in all seasons, becoming duller and browner in winter. The Palm Warbler primarily breeds across east-central Canada. Smaller numbers breed south of the United States border in the Upper Midwest and in Maine. In winter, the western subspecies of the Palm Warbler migrates to the U.S. Pacific coast, the coastal southeast, the West Indies, southern Mexico, and Central America, while the eastern subspecies winters along the Gulf Coast from Florida west to Texas. Palm Warblers breed in a variety of dense evergreen habitats, and is particularly attracted to bogs. In winter, this species may be found in semi-open habitats, such as thickets, roadsides, and mangroves. Palm Warblers primarily eat small invertebrates, including insects and spiders, although this species may eat some plant material, particularly fruits and berries, during the winter. In appropriate habitat, Palm Warblers may be observed foraging for insects on the ground or in low branches of shrubs and trees. Birdwatchers may also listen for this species’ song, a high “zhe” note repeated several times in succession. Palm Warblers are primarily active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species migrates at night.

Habitat ⁶

On the breeding grounds, Palm Warblers prefer open bogs with a wooded border of spruces and tamaracks. The bog cover is preferably Sphagnum moss, sedges, or other damp ground plants. On the wintering grounds, Palm Warblers prefer a variety of habitats including open and weedy fields, forest edges, second-growth, thickets, savannas, and mangroves (Dunn and Garrett 1997; Wilson 1996).

Habitat Regions: temperate

Terrestrial Biomes: taiga

Wetlands: bog

Conservation status ⁷

Palm Warblers are tolerant of human activity, occurring in winter in residential areas.

One threat to Palm Warbler is the presence of TV towers and other tall structures. Palm Warbler is one of the most common victims to illuminated TV towers.

There seems to be no suggestion of degradation of habitat except for some evidence of bog drainage and peat-harvesting which may harm habitat (Wilson 1996).

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Iucn red list assessment ⁸

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2012

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History

Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)

Sources and Credits

(c) Ned Haight, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/14346057@N00/4490107543
(c) Greg Miller, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3427391648_396d53a855.jpg
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4524188319_451c21d96c.jpg
Adapted by Amanda Carrillo-Perez from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setophaga_palmarum
(c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34818222
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31390422
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31390431
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34420012