Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea)
Wood Warblers Family (Parulidae)
Cerulean Warbler is a small warbler, reaching 4.5" tall and an 8" wingspan. Males have a pale blue to blue-gray back, faint black streaks on back, white throat and underparts, and a thin dark band across breast. Females are duller; greenish blue to gray back; light eyebrow; pale yellow underparts, throat, and face; and dark wings with crisp white wing-bars. Both have two white wing bars and dark streaks on flanks (fainter on female). Bill is thin and pointed. Juveniles are similar to the adult female with the juvenile female being more yellow overall. The nest is open cup-shaped usually in high up in a tree. Breeds from May through June. Has a usual clutch size of 3-5 eggs, which are grayish to greenish white, speckled with brown. Song is a rapid buzzy song rising at the end, zee zee zee zizizizi eeet. Call is a soft tsup. It is a neotropical migratory song bird with breeding populations found mostly in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. Most migrate to South America for the winter. Frequently found in mature deciduous forests with little understory, especially along rivers and streams, during the breeding season and in mountainous broadleaved evergreen forests near forest edges and clearings in the winter. Eats mostly insects high in the trees mostly by gleaning insects from leaves. Also known by the scientific name of Dendroica cerulea by some authorities.
Listed as endangered in Canada, DE, IN, & RI; threatened in IL, MI, & WI; species of special concern in AR, KS, LA, MN, MO, NC, NY, NJ, OH, TN, VA, & VT; rare in GA & MD; and as vulnerable by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).
