Setophaga cerulea
The Cerulean Warbler, *Setophaga cerulea*, is a small, dazzling Neotropical migrant known for its striking sky-blue plumage in males. Males boast a bright cerulean blue back, white underparts, a distinctive dark streaked necklace across the breast, and often streaking along the flanks, measuring about 11-12 cm in length and weighing 8-10 grams. Females are more subdued, with a bluish-green back, yellow-washed underparts, faint streaking, and two prominent white wing-bars, but share the male's...
Primarily inhabits mature, tall deciduous forests, often in riparian zones, steep ravines, or large forest tracts, typically at low to mid-elevations on both breeding and wintering grounds.
Feeds almost exclusively on insects, including caterpillars, beetles, spiders, flies, and plant lice, gleaned from leaves and bark in the forest canopy, with occasional consumption of small berries.
Cerulean Warblers are highly active, diurnal birds, spending most of their time foraging high in the forest canopy. Their foraging strategy primarily involves gleaning insects from the undersides of leaves and small branches, often hanging upside down to reach prey in a technique known as 'hang-g...
The Cerulean Warbler breeds across a broad swath of eastern North America, primarily concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains, the Ohio River Valley, and extending north into southern Ontario, Canada, and west through parts of Missouri. During the non-breeding season, they undertake a lengthy mi...
Vulnerable
- The Cerulean Warbler is one of the fastest-declining Neotropical migratory birds in North America. - Its scientific name, *Setophaga cerulea*, literally translates to "blue-green moth-eater. - Males are known for their distinctive, buzzy song that sounds like it's accelerating to a high-pitched...