Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea)
The Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. It is the only member of the genus Protonotaria.
The Prothonotary Warbler is 13 cm long and weighs 12.5 g. It has an olive back with blue-grey wings and tail, yellow underparts, a relatively long pointed bill and black legs. The adult male has a bright orange-yellow head; females and immature birds are duller and have a yellow head.
It breeds in hardwood swamps in southern Canada and the eastern United States, nesting in a cavity, sometimes using old Downy Woodpecker holes. (Instructions for Building a Nesting Box for the Prothonotary Warbler) The male often builds several incomplete unused nests in his territory; the female builds the real nest. It winters in the West Indies, Central America and northern South America.
The preferred foraging habitat is dense, woody streams, where the Prothonotary Warbler forages actively in low foliage, mainly for insects and snails.
The song of this bird is a loud repeated tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet.
These birds are declining in numbers due to loss of habitat. They are also parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), or outcompeted for nest sites by the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon).
This bird was named after officials in the Roman Catholic Church known as the protonotarii, who wore golden robes.
The prothonotary warbler became known in the 1940s as the bird that, in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, established a connection between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss. Chambers had testified that Hiss enjoyed bird-watching, and once bragged about seeing a prothonotary warbler. Hiss later testified to the same incident, causing many members to become convinced of the pairs' acquaintance.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). Protonotaria citrea. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Curson, Quinn and Beadle, New World Warblers ISBN 0-7136-3932-6
- Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
External links
- Prothonotary Warbler videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Prothonotary Warbler Information - South Dakota Birds and Birding
- Prothonotary Warbler Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Prothonotary Warbler - Protonotaria citrea - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Smithsonian National Zoological Park - Bird of the Month: Prothonotary Warbler "The Swamp Songster" by Lisa Petit (January 1997)
- Prothonotary Warbler in the Hiss-Chambers case
- Build a Nesting Box for the Prothonotary Warbler ... Birds of Nova Scotia
Oberle, Mark (2003). Las aves de Puerto Rico en fotografías. Editorial Humanitas, 24. ISBN 0-9650104-2-2.
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