Fun Tennessee Warbler Facts For Kids

Tennessee warblers are part of a group of warblers, order Passeriformes family, called the New World warblers. These tiny birds of North America are essentially songbirds that like trees and flatlands equally.

Tennessee warbler's (Leiothlypis peregrina) origins lie in Central America and they gradually spread to other parts of the world while migrating.

To date, however, these breeding birds are widely found on the American continents, perching on branches, looking marvelous with their colorful feathers and cheery personas. These birds of North America can be arboreal as well as territorial.

Usually found to be nesting on flat areas or tree roots, the Tennessee warbler ensures that its nest is extremely well hidden or protected from predators or the destructive aspects of nature. Male Tennessee warblers are also known to be protective of their territories and often get into fights in order to defend themselves from other alphas.

Having said that, the general demeanor of this species leans towards being friendly and accommodating towards its fellow warblers.

Read on to discover some interesting facts about the members of this North American bird species. After reading this article about the Tennessee warbler species, check out the metallic starling and the Senegal parrot.

Tennessee Warbler Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Tennessee warbler?

The Tennessee warbler, scientifically known as Leiothlypis peregrina, is a category of small birds. These members of the birds' realms belong to the new world warblers or wood-warblers family.

What class of animal does a Tennessee warbler belong to?

The Tennessee warbler is the classified members of class Aves; that is, the biological classification of organisms characterized by the presence of forelimbs modified into wings, the body is covered with feathers, these North American birds are warm-blooded creatures with a beak, a light skeletal structure, lays eggs in order to reproduce, and have four chambers in their heart.

How many Tennessee warblers are there in the world?

Owing to the inaccessible northern breeding range, the population of the Tennessee warbler is quite difficult to estimate. However, trends show a steady and stable mark or slight decline over the years.

According to the Partners in Flight database, the present estimate stands at about 110 million. It is due to the steady pace of their global population numbers, that the  Tennessee warbler species have been classified as of Least Concern in terms of conservation efforts.

Where does a Tennessee warbler live?

The Leiothlypis peregrina live in coniferous or mixed deciduous-coniferous boreal forests. The residency of these tiny avians ranges from shrubs, speckled alder, coffee plantations to various wooded habitat regions.

What is a Tennessee warbler's habitat?

The Tennessee warbler's spring migration to wintering grounds can be located along with the open spaces, woodland, or forest habitat ranging along the terrains of North America (during the breeding seasons) and wandering along with the topography of northern South America, the Caribbean, and southern Central America which are their wintering grounds.

If you study the Tennessee warbler's nesting habits, you will realize that their nests are built in closely spaced loose colonies as an ideal habitat.

Who do Tennessee warblers live with?

Their spring migration and nesting habits exhibit both solitary as well as gregarious behavioral traits. These birds are quite territorial, particularly during the breeding seasons.

Though they are known to forage in flocks, they quite actively defend their nectar sources. During migratory movements, the Leiothlypis peregrina flock along with the avians of other species as well. Seasonal monogamous behavioral patterns are observed between the mates during the breeding season.

How long does a Tennessee warbler live?

The average lifespan of Tennessee warblers is about four to seven years.

How do they reproduce?

There isn’t much data regarding the reproductive habits of breeding males of Tennessee warblers. However, from what is known, it is observed that Tennessee warblers are, by nature, a group of seasonally monogamous species. The males and females of this species, however, do not mate for life.

The breeding cycle in Tennessee warblers begins with the males courting the potential Tennessee warbler female, particularly during late spring. During the wooing process, the male sings to entice potential females.

Besides singing, there are flight displays of males during the breeding season. The males are highly territorial during the breeding season. After selecting the potential partner, the male mounts the female for fertilization.

Having done so, after the two birds mate, the female lays a clutch of up to six eggs, which is then incubated by both the parents for 11-12 days. Once the eggs hatch, after about a time span of 12-14 days, the chicks fledge in about two weeks.

The eggs of the species are usually white shaded with blotched patterns marking them.

What is their conservation status?

According to the IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, Tennessee warblers have been categorized under the conservation status of Least Concern. Therefore it can be safely predicted that the global population numbers of these avian species are quite steady and stable.

Tennessee Warbler Fun Facts

What do Tennessee warblers look like?

The juvenile female Tennessee warbler's under tail is unique and it is a fairly small bird. Male Tennessee warblers can be distinguished by their brighter hues as compared to the females that have duller coloring.

Both sexes have brown feathers on their wings and gray feathers on their necks that fade into a whitish-gray as it goes toward their bellies. Their beaks are short and pointed. The Tennessee warbler's fall plumage is yellow in color, unlike its spring plumage.

How cute are they?

On a scale of one to five, Tennessee warbler bird would easily secure a three or four for its cuteness. Though the Tennessee warblers are amongst the least colorful members of the New World warbler family, their small size, active playfulness, and melodious voice make them quite adorable sights to behold.

How do they communicate?

The Tennessee warbler makes use of chirps and calls to communicate. Tennessee warbler songs use different frequencies and tones to communicate to either their mate or other members of their species.

Since these are also territorial birds, Tennessee warbler songs and calls are used to issue warnings to other birds.

The male members of the species particularly communicate their affection and desire and woo their potential mates using actions and physical movements and melodic Tennessee warbler calls during the spring migration. In the breeding season, the male members indulge in chirping fights with other intruding males of the species.

How big is a Tennessee warbler?

Tennessee warblers, or Leiothlypis peregrina, are a group of small-sized birds. The average length of Tennessee warblers ranges between  3.9-5.1 in.

How fast can a Tennessee warbler fly?

There are no exact details about the flying speed of the Tennessee warbler. However, these avians exhibit the flying speeds of the general tiny birds and are quite active and agile with a fast flying speed.

How much does a Tennessee warbler weigh?

Being a category of a small group of birds, Tennessee warblers are not very heavy. The weight of Leiothlypis peregrina ranges between 0.3-0.35 oz.

What are their male and female names of the species?

There is no specific designation allotted to the members of species Leiothlypis peregrina based on their sex. The males are referred to as male Tennessee warblers while the females are referred to as female Tennessee warblers.

What would you call a baby Tennessee warbler?

The offspring of Tennessee warblers are referred to as young ones, juveniles, nestlings, fledglings, chicks, or immature Tennessee warblers.

What do they eat?

Tennessee warblers are omnivorous birds that feed on various forest insects. The diet of these birds includes spruce budworm, beetles, bees, flies, ants, spiders, insects, moths, butterflies, wasps, etc. These birds are also known to survive on plant products such as nectar, seed, fruits, etc.

Are they friendly?

Yes, the Tennessee warbler is a fairly friendly species of the new world warblers. Not only are they sociable and friendly with other warblers, but this breeding species also does not shy away from human presence either.

These birds can often be found in heavily populated parks and gardens. They do not appreciate physical approaches by human beings or any threats to their lives or nests.

Would they make a good pet?

No, the Tennessee warbler would not make for a good pet. The reason is that this species of bird is an outgoing, wild bird that enjoys its freedom of flight as well as its territorial movement.

Moreover, the Tennessee warbler is a foraging species of bird. Keeping this bird in a cage would be cruel to it because confined spaces are not an environment in which it would be comfortable. Moreover, it likes to prey on spruce budworms as part of its diet.

Did you know...

Initially, the Tennessee warbler bird species were placed in the genera Vermivora and were known by the scientific name Vermivora peregrina. However, this was altered by the Ornithologists' Union in 2010.

The Tennessee warbler is a well-recognized maestro of eradicating spruce budworms. These birds, owing to their feeding habits, are extremely beneficial in keeping the budworm epidemics in check.

Due to its peculiar way of consuming nectar from flowers, the Tennessee warbler is often awarded the sobriquet of the nectar thief.

Tennessee warblers were named due to their migratory practices which landed them in the geographical range of Tennessee; that is the location from where the specimen of these birds was collected by Alexander Wilson.

The tiny members of the Parulidae family can be heard taking on the melodious tunes and coos quite ardently during their spring migratory habits.

Besides its scientific naming, Leiothlypis peregrina, the epithet 'coffee warbler' has also been suggested for the members of the Tennessee warbler species; the following suggestion being made over the fascination of these avians to the coffee plantations of Latin America during the dry season.

How do Tennessee warblers get nectar?

The Tennessee warbler is known to consume nectar from, usually, tube-shaped flowers. This breeding species get to the nectar by piercing these flowers’ bases and consuming it directly from there without coming into contact with its pollen or even petals for that matter.

What was the oldest Tennessee warbler on record?

A Tennessee warbler lived to be older than four years and seven months in the West Indies. However, this age was achieved only because it was living in a protected environment. Other research tells us that the bird can live beyond this age if living in its natural habitat.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds including the Kestral and the yellow warbler.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one of our Tennessee warbler coloring pages.