Tennessee Warbler

Overview

Tennessee Warbler: Small warbler with olive-green upperparts, white underparts, and olive-gray washed sides. Darker head has white eyebrows and dark eyestripes. Wings are plain gray. Tail is short. It spends the summers in Canada and is only found in Tennessee during migration. Eats mostly insects.

Range and Habitat

Tennessee Warbler: Breeds from Yukon, Manitoba, and Labrador south to British Columbia, Wisconsin, southern Ontario, and Maine. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include open mixed woodlands in the breeding season; trees and bushes during migration.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Tennessee Warbler specializes in eating the spruce budworm. Consequently its population goes up and down with fluctuations in the populations of the budworm.
A more apt name for this species might be the "Coffee Warbler" since it often over-winters in coffee plantations in Latin America.
Its breeding habits remained a mystery until 1901, when the first nests were discovered in Canada.
A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

The Tennessee Warbler has a large range, estimated globally at 4,800,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and nearby island nations, this bird prefers shrubland or forest ecosystems, though it can reside on plantations. The global population of this bird is estimated at 62,000,000 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 Tennessee Warbler is Least Concern.