Fun Chestnut-sided Warbler Facts For Kids
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The word warbler comes from the French word 'werbler', which means to sing in a quavering voice. It was a name given to the Old World warblers, but the New World warblers are also denoted by the same because of their similar size and ability to sing.
The chestnut-sided warbler is a type of songbird. It is not a rare bird and is found throughout the eastern parts of North America and southern parts of Canada.
The migration of these birds takes place during the winter to Central America. These birds of North America are small in size with a grey-white plumage.
They look remarkably different during the breeding season and the non-breeding season. The breeding birds of North America flaunt chestnut-brown flanks, black patches under their eyes, and a yellow cap-like plumage on their heads.
The birds who are not breeding have lime-green upperparts and grey underparts, white rings around their eyes, and two white wing bars. These birds look very similar to yellow warblers and even sing identical tunes.
The natural habitat of these species is in second-growth deciduous forests and open areas with small trees, shrubs, and thickets. Read on for some more interesting info about these North American birds.
If you like this article, you can check out the yellow warbler and the Blackburnian warbler.
Chestnut-Sided Warbler Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a Chestnut-Sided Warbler?
The chestnut-sided warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) is a type of songbird that belongs to the Parulidae family.
What class of animal does a Chestnut-Sided Warbler belong to?
Chestnut-sided warblers belong to the Aves class. The scientific name of this bird is Setophaga pensylvanica, and it belongs to the order Passeriformes, family Parulidae.
How many Chestnut-sided Warblers are there in the world?
In the 1800s, these birds were quite rare, but the population has grown remarkably in recent times. According to some data, there are 18 million chestnut-sided warblers present today. There are two types of warblers, namely, New World and Old World warblers.
The New World warblers consist of 113 species throughout America. The Old World warblers have 325 species distributed all across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The chestnut-sided warbler is a type of New World warbler.
Where does a Chestnut-Sided Warbler live?
They live in the Southern parts of Canada and eastern parts of North America. They travel south every year, towards Central America, to survive the winters.
What is a Chestnut-Sided warbler's habitat?
The habitat of a chestnut-sided warbler is in second-growth deciduous forests and open areas. It lives in bushy thickets, shrubs, and small trees of eastern North America and southern Canada.
The most unique feature of this bird is that it can reside in open areas with fewer trees. Such areas may be affected by natural disasters and forest fires. During winter, this bird lives in tropical forests.
Who do Chestnut-sided Warblers live with?
These birds are quite social during the mating season. In winter, they flock together to their wintering grounds.
How long does a Chestnut-Sided Warbler live?
A chestnut-sided warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) lives for approximately seven years in the wild.
How do they reproduce?
These North American birds are monogamous in nature. A male chestnut-sided warbler comes back early from their wintering grounds during the spring.
Afterward, he starts singing to establish his territory before the female warbler returns from her wintering grounds after a few days. During the mating season, the male warbler raises his yellow crown plumage and shows off his wings and tails by stretching them.
Once mating is over, the chestnut-sided warbler female single-handedly builds a cup-shaped nest on saplings of deciduous trees and brushy shrubs. The nest is built with fibrous weeds, fine grass, roots, and animal hair. She lays her eggs in this nest from May-June and incubates them for around 11-12 days.
After the nestlings are born, both the parents raise the young and feed them small insects in the nest. The nestlings learn to fly quickly and thus become independent in just 10-12 days.
What is their conservation status?
According to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, the conservation status of these species is of Least Concern. These birds were quite low in number back in the 1800s, but they are quite common in their native place in recent times.
Although, in the past few years, these birds are declining in number. The reasons can be due to habitat loss and accidents with tall artificial towers during their bi-annual migration.
Chestnut-Sided Warbler Fun Facts
What do Chestnut-sided Warblers look like?
These species of warblers look noticeably different during the breeding season and the non-breeding season. The breeding birds flaunt chestnut-brown flanks, black patches under the eyes, and a yellow crown-like plumage on their heads.
These chestnut-brown flanks are brighter in adult males. In contrast, females and young ones might not have these unique colored flanks. The non-breeding birds have lime-green upperparts and greyish-white underparts, white rings around the eyes, and two white wing bars.
How cute are they?
This bird is very cute because it is very chirpy and moves from one sapling to another, with its tail cocked up cheerfully.
How do they communicate?
The chestnut-sided warbler call consists of vocalizations and two types of songs. One is when the males are waiting for the females to return from their migration before the breeding season. The female sometimes listens to this song with its tail cocked up. The second one is sung when they are taking care of their young.
How big is a Chestnut-Sided Warbler?
This bird is 4.7-5.5 in (12-14 cm) long, which is almost three times smaller than an average-sized pigeon.
How fast can a Chestnut-Sided Warbler fly?
This bird is a long-distance migrant who travels from North America to Central America every year to survive the winter, but their speeds have not yet been calculated.
How much does a Chestnut-Sided warbler weigh?
This is a small bird that weighs around 0.4-0.5 oz (10.7-14.3 g).
What are the male and female names of the species?
All the species of warblers are simply called male warbler and female warbler. They do not have any distinguished names.
What would you call a baby Chestnut-sided Warbler?
Like any other bird, a baby warbler is also called a chick.
What do they eat?
These species mostly feed on insects like beetles, small moths, flies, and grasshoppers. They search for insects from the twigs and undersides of leaves. Another unique quality is they can catch insects from the air. During winters, berries play a major role in their diet.
Are they dangerous?
These birds do get aggressive when someone invades their territory, but generally, they are quite friendly and cheerful.
Would they make a good pet?
No, these are wild birds who thrive in the forests and hence should not be domesticated.
Did you know...
A chestnut-sided warbler lived for more than seven years in Rhode Island in 1980. It is known to be the oldest warbler on record.
The Chestnut-sided Warbler's call
The song that this bird sings before the female returns from their migration sounds like 'pleased to meetcha'. It is assumed that the chestnut-sided warbler song is sung by males to attract the females who are returning to their habitat from their wintering grounds.
Comparisons with other Warblers
It is very difficult to identify all the species of warblers, but by identifying the plumage, behavior, habitat, and songs, one can understand the difference. In comparison, the smallest warbler is known as Lucy's warbler, which is just 4.2in (10.6 cm) long.
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 palm warbler and the Cape May warbler.
You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one of our songbird coloring pages.
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Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut-sided_warbler
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chestnut-sided_Warbler/id#
https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/bird-life-expectancy-chestnut-sided-warbler
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