Guide to Boreal Birds
Perching Birds Overview
This warbler supposedly gets its vernacular name from the black crepe-like patch on the breast of the male, which suggests a symbol of mourning. The scientific species name, philadelphia, derives from the city where Alexander Wilson discovered the bird in 1810. It is actually less common in Philadelphia than in many other places. Like other warblers of the genus Oporornis, the Mourning Warbler is often heard before it is seen.
Description
5 1/2" (14 cm). Similar to Connecticut Warbler: olive above and bright yellow below with a gray hood; no eye ring. Male has black patch below throat; female has gray throat. Immatures usually have faint, broken eye ring.
Voice
Loud, ringing, musical song, teedle-teedle, turtle-turtle, the last pair of notes lower.
Nesting
4 brown-spotted white eggs in a nest of fibers and leaves, lined with grass and hair, on or near the ground.
Habitat
Dense thickets of blackberries and briars in forest clearings; also wet woods with thick undergrowth.
Range/Migration
Breeds from Alberta to Newfoundland and south to North Dakota and northern New England, and in mountains to Virginia. Winters in tropics.