Mourning Warbler

Overview

Mourning Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with an olive-green back, wings, tail, and gray hood. The underparts are yellow and the upper breast is black. It's named for the way its dark breast and hood resemble a person in mourning. It is one of the latest spring migrants of all North American warblers.

Range and Habitat

Mourning Warbler: Breeds from Alberta to Newfoundland and south to North Dakota and northern New England, and in mountains to Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include dense thickets of blackberries and briars in forest clearings; also wet woodlands with thick undergrowth.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Mourning Warbler gets its species name, philadelphia, from the city where Alexander Wilson discovered the bird in 1810. It is actually less common in Philadelphia than in many other places.
Both parents pretend to have broken wings to distract predators close to their nest.
The adult female eats the eggshells after the young hatch.
A group of mourning warblers are collectively known as a "wake" of warblers.

The Mourning Warbler has a large range, estimated globally at 2,700,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and nearby island nations, this bird prefers forest and shrubland ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 7,000,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Mourning Warbler is Least Concern.