Prothonotary Warbler (Crum Woods Biodiversity Guide)

Prothonotary Warbler

Protonotaria citrea

Summary ⁴

The prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. It is the only member of the genus Protonotaria.

Protonotaria citrea ⁵

A medium-sized (5 ½ inches) wood warbler, the male Prothonotary Warbler is most easily identified by its olive back, gray wings and tail, and bright yellow breast and head. The female Prothonotary Warbler is similar to the male, but is somewhat duller, particularly on the head and breast. The male is unmistakable; the female resembles other female wood warblers, but its combination of yellow breast and gray wings and tail separates it from most, if not all, of its relatives. The Prothonotary Warbler breeds in the eastern United States and southern Canada from Michigan and Ontario south to central Florida and west to Texas. Despite this large range, this species only breeds locally within its range where habitat is appropriate. In winter, Prothonotary Warblers migrate south to southern Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and northern South America. Prothonotary Warblers breed in wooded freshwater swamps, nesting in abandoned woodpecker nest holes. In winter, this species may be found in tropical wetland habitats, particularly in mangroves. Prothonotary Warblers primarily eat small insects and spiders, but may also eat seeds and other plant material during the winter. In appropriate swampy habitats, Prothonotary Warblers may be seen flitting through the undergrowth or low forest canopy, gleaning insects and spiders from leaves and twigs. Birdwatchers may also listen for this species’ song, a series of metallic “zweet” syllables repeated in rapid succession. Prothonotary Warblers are primarily active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species migrates at night.

Conservation status ⁶

Protonotaria citraea is listed as moderately vulnerable and is on the watch list of Partners in Flight. The placement of manmade breeding cavities in the U.S. would help populations expand. Conservation of mangroves along the coast in wintering regions would also rebuild the population, but no effort has yet been put into this cause (Petit 1999). This is a species of special concern in the state of Michigan.

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: special concern

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Habitat ⁷

Water is important to P. citrea and they spend their lives near or next to water formations of all kinds, such as lakes, creeks, swamps, and flooded forests. Occasionally they have been found living by swimming pools or house ponds. Protonotaria citrea are unique among warblers because they build breeding homes in pre-established cavities, made either naturally, by woodpeckers, or by man. Manmade cavities can be made out of milk cartons or small wooden boxes. Most cavities that are chosen are those in trees. While wintering most P. citrea live in the mangroves that line the coast of Central and South America. Many of these mangroves are being destroyed for the construction of coastal developement, highways, and agriculture. This destruction of Protonotaria citrea habitat has produced a decline in their population. The destruction of the forests in the United States is also a threat to this bird's habitat and life (Petit 1999).

Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; rainforest

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). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to 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) Laura Gooch, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/19474221@N08/4902141661
(c) Herman Mays, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3449/5747788091_78d4b6174a.jpg
(c) Cullen Hanks, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Cullen Hanks
Adapted by Amanda Carrillo-Perez from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protonotaria_citrea
(c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34818226
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31418063
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31418057
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34678413