Marin County
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Perching Birds |
Orange-crowned Warbler Vermivora celata
Description ADULT MALE Dull yellow-green overall with a gray wash to face and back; note the indistinct pale eyering and pale supercilium. Underparts are faintly streaked and undertail coverts are yellow-buff. ADULT FEMALE Similar, but grayer overall and duller. IMMATURE Similar to adult female; yellow undertail coverts are usually striking.
Dimensions Length: 4 1/2-5 1/2" (11-14 cm)
Habitat Common summer visitor (mainly May-Sep) to deciduous woodland edges and weedy clearings. Winters in southern U.S. and Mexico.
Observation Tips Voice, color of underparts, and face pattern are clues to identification. First impressions of face are useful in immatures: if pale broken eyering is most obvious feature, then Orange-crowned is likely; if pale supercilium strikes you then Tennessee is best contender.
Range Mid-Atlantic, Texas, Alaska, Florida, Northwest, Plains, Southeast, Rocky Mountains, Eastern Canada, Southwest, Western Canada, California, Great Lakes, New England
Voice Song is a vibrating trill, whose pitch drops from start to finish; call is a sparrowlike tik.
Discussion Widespread and relatively long-tailed wood-warbler whose plumage varies across range; northern subspecies, the dullest, is the one seen in the east and described below. Orange crown patch is usually indistinct and not useful in field identification. Immature bird resembles immature Tennessee Warbler; its duller colors, darker underparts, yellowish (not white) undertail coverts, and shorter wing projection are useful features to look for. Sexes are dissimilar.
