Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Ten­nessee war­blers breed across most of the north­ern United States in­clud­ing: north­ern Min­nesota, north­ern Wis­con­sin, the Upper Penin­sula of Michi­gan, north­east­ern Maine, the Adiron­dack Moun­tains of New York, and lo­cally in north­ern New Hamp­shire. Ten­nessee war­blers also breed as far north as south­ern Yukon, in cen­tral British Co­lum­bia, and in ad­ja­cent areas of south­ern Alaska. Breed­ing stretches east to New­found­land. In late Au­gust they mi­grate from their breed­ing grounds south across the Gulf coast and ar­rive on win­ter­ing grounds around Oc­to­ber. East­ern pop­u­la­tions move along the At­lantic coast to Florida, through Cen­tral Amer­ica to Co­lum­bia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. The same route is fol­lowed in spring. Re­turn mi­gra­tion be­gins in April with ar­rival at the breed­ing grounds by May. (Cur­son, 1994; Har­ri­son, 1984)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native
• neotropical
  • native

Habi­tat

In its breed­ing range V. pere­g­rina lives in de­cid­u­ous and conif­er­ous forests, and alder and wil­low thick­ets. In all habi­tats it is linked to shrubs, pri­mar­ily speck­led alder. For in­stance, in north­ern Maine it oc­curs in spruce-fir forests, alder bogs, open white cedar-tama­rack-black ash bogs and among conif­er­ous saplings. Mi­gra­tion paths occur through all types of wood­lands. For ex­am­ple, along the north­ern Gulf Coast dur­ing spring mi­gra­tion many in­di­vid­u­als oc­cupy scrub-shrub, pine for­est, and bushes along dunes. Some fall mi­grants were re­ported in dry and wet for­est, coastal areas, and urban areas. In the win­ter range Ten­nessee war­blers can be found in open sec­ond-growth wood­land, wooded shore­lines, for­est edge, and gallery forests. Ten­nessee war­blers are the most abun­dant war­bler in the cof­fee plan­ta­tions of Cen­tral Amer­ica. (Cur­son, 1994; Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest
• scrub forest

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural
• riparian

• Range elevation

  0 to 3000 m

  0.00 to 9842.52 ft

• Range depth

  0 (low) m

  0.00 (low) ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Ten­nessee war­blers are small, with an av­er­age length of only 12 cen­time­ters. In all plumages the up­per­parts are a vi­brant olive green, bright­est on the lower back and rump. All Ten­nessee war­blers also have a dis­tinc­tive black eye-stripe, thin white su­per­cil­ium, and white and gray au­ric­u­lars. Ju­ve­nile Ten­nessee war­blers are a duller olive color above, and are more yel­low below. The fore­head, crown and back of the neck of spring adult males is medium gray and con­trasts with the olive up­per­parts. Rare in­di­vid­u­als have been known to pos­sess a few ru­fous crown feath­ers. The un­der-parts are dull white, tinged with yel­low across the breast and flanks. (Baird, 1967; Cur­son, 1994; Dunn and Gar­rett, 1997; Sealy, 1985)

First spring males are very sim­i­lar to adult spring males ex­cept the pri­maries and rec­tri­ces are browner and more worn. Spring adult fe­males are olive-gray on the fore­head, crown, and back of the neck, con­trast­ing slightly with the rest of the up­per­parts. The su­per­cil­ium, au­ric­u­lar area, throat, breast, flanks and sides are washed with vari­able shades of yel­low. First spring fe­males are not eas­ily dis­tin­guish­able from spring adult fe­males, ex­cept the pri­maries and rec­tri­ces are browner and more worn.

Fall adult males looks like spring adult males ex­cept that the gray feath­ers of the fore­head, crown, and hind neck are tipped with olive. Also, the throat and breast are washed with light yel­low. The flanks are gray or light olive, and the pri­maries and rec­tri­ces are gray tipped green. In first fall males the up­per­parts are olive green and bright­est on the lower back and rump. The su­per­cil­ium is yel­low, and au­ric­u­lars are olive-yel­low. The chin, breast, sides, flanks, and throat range from lightly to strongly col­ored with yel­low or yel­low-olive. First fall males have browner and less green edg­ings than fall adult males. The find­ings of the Monomoy Re­search Sta­tion of the Mass­a­chu­setts Audubon So­ci­ety con­clude that first fall males lack an in­cu­ba­tion patch, have a wing length of 62mm, and have bleached pri­mary tips. Fall adult fe­males are not eas­ily dis­tin­guish­able from fall adult males in the field. First fall fe­males are very sim­i­lar to first fall males and fall adult fe­males. (Baird, 1967; Cur­son, 1994; Dunn and Gar­rett, 1997; Sealy, 1985)

Ten­nessee war­blers have been con­fused with sim­i­lar species such as or­ange-crowned war­blers (Ver­mivora celata), Philadel­phia vireos (Vireo philadel­ph­i­cus), and war­bling vireos (Vireo gilvus). How­ever, Ten­nessee war­blers have shorter tails and more pointed wing tips than or­ange-crowned war­blers. Philadel­phia and war­bling vireos are larger, have hooked bills, and are less en­er­getic. (Baird, 1967; Cur­son, 1994; Dunn and Gar­rett, 1997; Sealy, 1985)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• sexes colored or patterned differently

• Range mass

  7.3 to 18.4 g

  0.26 to 0.65 oz

• Average length

  12 cm

  4.72 in

• Range wingspan

  58 to 68 mm

  2.28 to 2.68 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Like many wood war­blers, Ten­nessee war­blers have a monog­a­mous mat­ing sys­tem. Pair for­ma­tion is ini­ti­ated after ar­rival on breed­ing grounds in the late spring­time. There is usu­ally only one brood per sea­son, but if an early nest fail­ure oc­curs there may be a sec­ond brood at­tempt. Males are very ter­ri­to­r­ial dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Mating System
• monogamous

The cup-shaped nest is well con­cealed in sphag­num moss, or at the bot­tom of a small tree or shrub. The rim of the nest is flush with ground level. It is made of dead grass, weed stems, and some­times dried leaves and twigs. The inner lin­ing con­sists of fine grasses mixed with deer, moose, por­cu­pine, or horse hair. The in­cu­ba­tion pe­riod is 11 to 12 days, and time to fledg­ing is an­other 11 to 12 days. The chicks hatch within 24 hours of each other. The eggs are white, speck­led or some­times blotched with chest­nut or pale pur­plish mark­ings. The ovate eggs are smooth to the touch and have an av­er­age length of 15.63 mm and width of 12.27mm. The in­cu­ba­tion patch is only de­vel­oped by the fe­male. The ear­li­est date of a fully de­vel­oped patch is the be­gin­ning of June. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  Tennessee warblers breed once a year.

• Breeding season

  Breeding begins in early June.

• Range eggs per season

  4 to 7

• Average eggs per season

  6

  AnAge

• Range time to hatching

  11 to 12 days

• Range fledging age

  11 to 12 days

• Average time to independence

  one years

Fe­males spend the ma­jor­ity of their time brood­ing young. Both males and fe­males feed the young and at­tend fledg­lings, but it is un­known if the fam­i­lies stay to­gether be­yond breed­ing. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Parental Investment
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

There is lit­tle data on the an­nual and life­time re­pro­duc­tive suc­cess, age at first breed­ing, time be­tween breed­ing, and life span. Causes of mor­tal­ity in­clude: par­a­sitism by blood par­a­sites and preda­tors on eggs or nestlings. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

In mi­gra­tion, birds are killed in Florida at smoke­stacks, build­ings, radio and tele­vi­sion tow­ers, and ceilome­ters. (Tay­lor and Ker­sh­ner, 1986)

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild

  77 months

  Bird Banding Laboratory

Be­hav­ior

Ten­nessee war­blers are ac­tive birds, flit­ting among fo­liage and mak­ing short flights to reach leaf tips while search­ing for food. They some­times hov­ers while for­ag­ing, and de­scend through veg­e­ta­tion after fallen prey. Ten­nessee war­blers join mixed-species flocks dur­ing mi­gra­tion, es­pe­cially in the fall. Phys­i­cal in­ter­ac­tions such as chas­ing and fight­ing occur on win­ter­ing grounds where in­di­vid­u­als fight for nec­tar. They are ac­tive dur­ing the day. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Key Behaviors
• flies
• diurnal
• motile
• migratory
• territorial
• social

Home Range

Ter­ri­to­ries are es­tab­lished soon after ar­rival on breed­ing grounds. They may be lo­cated closely to­gether, as ev­i­denced by the prox­im­ity of singing males. Males are very ter­ri­to­r­ial dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son, de­fend­ing their ter­ri­to­ries by counter singing. In win­ter grounds, in­di­vid­u­als es­tab­lish ter­ri­to­ries around nec­tar sites. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Only males sing. The calls given dur­ing flight are a soft, sharp tsit and a thin see. The song is gen­er­ally a two- or three-parted song. The com­po­nents may dif­fer in pitch, time and loud­ness. The notes are loud, rapid, un­mu­si­cal and stac­cato. On av­er­age, the song is com­prised of sev­en­teen notes. The length of a song ranges from four­teen to thirty-two sec­onds, and an in­di­vid­ual may sing many vari­a­tions of the song in a short pe­riod. Some­times loud­ness in­creases to­wards the end of the song, and some­times the op­po­site is true. Males are per­sis­tent singers dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son, re­peat­ing songs six to nine times per minute from dawn until mid­day. There is also a cor­re­la­tion be­tween for­ag­ing height and song pitch. Males sing dur­ing mi­gra­tion and while for­ag­ing in flow­er­ing trees on the win­ter­ing grounds. The calls vary from loud chips dur­ing food de­fense to soft zeep calls dur­ing in­tra- and in­ter­spe­cific flock­ing. There are no known non­vo­cal sounds. (Bent, 1953; Cur­son, 1994; Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Ten­nessee war­blers use their thin bills to glean less ac­tive prey from fo­liage. The bill size is an adap­ta­tion used for prob­ing move­ments and the lack of ric­tal bris­tles aids in nec­tar feed­ing. Dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son they feed on in­ver­te­brates such as lep­i­dopteran cater­pil­lars from the outer fo­liage of trees and shrubs. They rarely hover, for­ag­ing on in­ver­te­brates mainly using aer­ial at­tacks. Ten­nessee war­blers are recorded in large num­bers at spruce bud­worm (Cho­ri­s­toneura) out­breaks. Dur­ing the mi­gra­tory sea­son the diet in­cludes: in­ver­te­brates, nec­tar and trop­i­cal fruits, in­clud­ing Didy­mopanax mo­ro­to­toni, Mi­co­nia ar­gen­tea, and Xy­lopia frutescens. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Primary Diet
• omnivore

• Animal Foods
• insects
• terrestrial non-insect arthropods

• Plant Foods
• fruit
• nectar

Pre­da­tion

Re­ported preda­tors of Ten­nessee war­bler eggs and nestlings are red squir­rels, skunks, weasels, gray jays, martens, and garter snakes. Ten­nessee war­blers are cryp­ti­cally col­ored and re­main vig­i­lant to pro­tect against preda­tors. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic

• Known Predators

  • red squirrels (Tamiasciurus)
  • skunks (Mephitidae)
  • weasels (Mustela)
  • gray jays (Perisoreus canadensis)
  • martens (Martes americana)
  • garter snakes (Thamnophis)

Ecosys­tem Roles

There is lit­tle in­for­ma­tion on the role V. pere­g­rina plays in the ecosys­tems they in­habit.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

The noisy, stac­cato songs of Ten­nessee war­blers mark the be­gin­ning of spring song­bird mi­gra­tion in North Amer­ica. These are pop­u­lar birds among bird­watch­ers. (Griscom and Sprunt, 1957; Morse, 1989; Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• Positive Impacts
• ecotourism

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

There are no known ad­verse ef­fects of Ver­mivora pere­g­rina> on hu­mans.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Ten­nessee war­blers are pro­tected by the Mi­gra­tory Bird Treaty Act. There exist other reg­u­la­tions to pre­serve the health of this species. For in­stance, due to aer­ial spray­ing of chem­i­cal in­sec­ti­cides to con­trol spruce bud­worm out­breaks in North Amer­ica, thirty-eight per­cent of sam­pled Ten­nessee war­blers had se­ri­ous brain dam­age lead­ing to higher fa­tal­ity rates. Now, reg­u­la­tions such as Ultra Ultra Low Vol­ume (UULV) aer­ial spray­ing has di­min­ished the im­pact of pes­ti­cides on this species. (Rim­mer and Mc­Far­land, 1998)

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Migratory Bird Act

  Protected

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Eliz­a­beth At­wood (au­thor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity, Pamela Ras­mussen (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity.

Ref­er­ences

Baird, J. 1967. Ar­rested molt in Ten­nessee War­bler. Bird Band­ing, 38: 236-237.

Bent, A. 1953. Life His­to­ries of North Amer­i­can Wood War­blers. Wash­ing­ton: United States Gov­ern­ment Print­ing Of­fice.

Cur­son, J. 1994. New World War­blers. Bed­ford Row, Lon­don: Christo­pher Helm (Pub­lish­ers) Ltd..

Dunn, J., K. Gar­rett. 1997. A Field Guide to War­blers of North Amer­ica. United States of Amer­ica: Pe­ter­son Field Guides and Pe­ter­son Field Guide Se­ries.

Griscom, L., A. Sprunt. 1957. The War­blers of Amer­ica. New York: The Devin-Adair Com­pany.

Har­ri­son, H. 1984. Wood War­blers' World. New York: Simon and Schus­ter.

Morse, D. 1989. Amer­i­can War­blers. United States of Amer­ica: Har­vard Uni­ver­sity Press.

Rim­mer, C., K. Mc­Far­land. 1998. Ten­nessee war­bler (Ver­mivora pere­g­rina) In The Birds of North Amer­ica, No. 350. Philadel­phia, PA: A. Poole and F. Gill.

Sealy, S. 1985. Analy­sis of a sam­ple of Ten­nessee War­blers (Ver­mivora pere­g­rina) win­dow-killed dur­ing spring mi­gra­tion in Man­i­toba, Canada. Bird Ban­der, 10: 121-124.

Tay­lor, W., M. Ker­sh­ner. 1986. Mi­grant birds killed at the Ve­hi­cle As­sem­bly Build­ing (VAB), John F. Kennedy Space Cen­ter. J. Field Or­nithol, 57: 142-154.