A Delicate Black Jade Necklace Seemingly Pops From A Suit Of Intense Yellow Making This Stunning Little Bird Stand Out Even More – Meet The Canada Warbler!

clonejoe | June 3, 2021 | Articles

Wearing his bright yellow vest along with complementary yellow spectacles all finished off with a delicate black opal-like necklace.

Meet the Canada Warbler

*Photo Courtesy of Andy Reago & Chrissy Mc* / CC BY 2.0

The Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis), is a small boreal songbird of the New World warbler Parulidae family. Sometimes known as the “necklaced warbler” because of the band of black flecks seemingly dangling from his neck, this bird has a yellow breast, throat, and belly, with a slate grey back. The underside of the tail is white, while there is a yellow line in front of the eye to the base of the beak. The most outstanding feature though is the striking white-yellow eye-ring around their eyes.

*Photo Courtesy o*f John Benson / CC BY 2.0

Females are similar to males, though the male’s necklace is darker and his tail is longer.

Both females and juveniles have faint grey bands around their necks.

*Photo Courtesy of* U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain

This species spends its summers in Canada and the northeastern United States and winters over in northern South America.

*Photo Courtesy of Bill Majoros* / CC BY-SA 2.0

Canada warblers like to inhabit most thickets in both their summer and winter range. Here they feed on insects, foraging in vegetation or on the ground, sometimes catching them on the wing.

*Photo Courtesy of William H. Majoros / CC BY-SA 3.0*

During the breeding season, 60 – 65% of these birds prefer to nest in boreal forests. The female builds a nest on or very close to dense ground cover. The nest itself is made up of root masses, hummocks, stumps, banks, mossy logs, and sometimes leaf litter. A covering of moss is not unusual. Four to five eggs are laid within and incubated for around 12 days. The chicks remain in the nest for up to 10 days cared for by both parents.

*Photo Courtesy of Rita Wiskowski* / Public domain

There has been a decline in the population of the Canada warbler of around 3.2 percent per year throughout their breeding range. Threats include forest fragmentation, acid rain, and overgrazing by deer. The species has been assessed as “threatened” by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The IUCN, however, ranks the Canada warbler as a species of least concern.