BIRDS OF TEXAS

Orange-Crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata) 5”

(Click on picture to enlarge)

© 2000 Walter Bauer, San Antonio, Texas

Field Marks:  The blandest of all warblers.  Has no wing-bars or other distinctive marks. It is olive-green above, greenish yellow below.  “Orange Crown” seldom noticeable. Both sexes are similar.  The points to remember are the greenish-yellow underparts, faint, blurry streaking and lack of wing-bars.

Voice: Song, a weak, colorless trill, dropping in energy at the end.  Often changes pitch, rising, then dropping.

Where found:  Found in Alaska, west and central Canada, and throughout most of western U.S.  Winters south United States to Guatemala.

Texas:  Migrant throughout.  Winters (October – April) in southern half.  A few located to the North and Eastern Texas.  This bird breeds above 8000 feet in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas.  This particular orange-crowned warbler was found in San Antonio, Texas in the month of January 2000.  It would come daily to eat from our peanut butter suet.

Habitat: Scattered trees, brush, and undergrowth.

Nest:  A grassy cup on ground.  Eggs (3-5) speckled.