Mourning Warbler

About the Mourning Warbler

The mourning warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. Mourning warblers are neotropical migrants native to eastern and central North America and wintering in Central and South America. They tend to be found in dense second growth forests. They are very similar to the MacGillivray's warbler in appearance, especially in females and immature birds, but their breeding range does not overlap into the west.

The "mourning" in this bird's name refers to the male's hood, thought to resemble a mourning veil. Mourning warblers are small songbird with yellow underparts, olive-green upperparts, a thin pointed bill and pink legs. Adult males have a gray hood, black lores and a black patch on the throat and breast. In the fall, this pattern becomes less bright and harder to distinguish from similar species; however they never have a broken eye ring. Females and immatures are gray-brown on the head with an incomplete eye-ring. They have a yellow-gray throat with a brown or olive tint to their breast. Both sexes can range from 10 to 15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) in length and 11–13 g (0.4–0.5 oz) in weight. Their wingspan is 18 cm (7.1 in). Other... Wikipedia →