BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER – (Setophaga fusca)
The Blackburnian warbler is about 10 cm (5 in.) long and is the only New World warbler with a bright orange throat in the breeding male. The head crown is brown bordered with yellow bands. The back is grey, and the under parts are white, with a yellow rump. It has two white bands on the wings. The female looks like a washed out version of the male where the orange is replaced with yellow.
The bird was named after Anna Blackburne, a British naturalist of the 1700s. Warblers are thus called thanks to their generally melodious songs. The Latin word ‘fusca’ means ‘brown’, and ‘setophaga’ refers to the diet of this species, ‘moth eater’.
The habitat of the breeding blackburnian warbler is the boreal forest, where it forages for insects and other invertebrates in the higher parts of trees. It also builds its nest in the higher branches.
The blackburnian warbler breeds on PEI and is fairly common in the spring and summer. Its breeding range includes the eastern half of Canada and part of eastern USA. It migrates to northern South America for the winter.