Agencies
Services
Townsend's warbler
Townsend's warbler (Setophaga townsendi)
Illinois Status: casual, native
Photo © Rob Curtis, The Early Birder
Features and Behaviors
FEATURES
Townsend’s warbler is about five inches long (bill tip to tail tip in preserved specimen). The male has a black patch of feathers on the cheek, black throat feathers and a black cap of feathers. The ventral side has yellow feathers in the center and sides with black stripes also on the sides. The female and immature have a similar color pattern, but they show yellow on the throat instead of black, and the dark patches on the head are not as dark black as in the male.
BEHAVIORS
This is a species of the western United States, where it lives in areas of pines and other conifers. It has been seen in Illinois but very rarely. It is also occasionally observed in several of Illinois’ border states. These birds are casual fall migrants east of the Rocky Mountains.
Illinois Range
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Parulidae
Habitats
Aquatic Habitats
bottomland forests
Woodland Habitats
bottomland forests; coniferous forests; upland deciduous forests
Prairie and Edge Habitats
edge
