Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Palm Warbler
By: Tom Berg
Palm warblers are cute little birds which are slightly smaller than most sparrows. They are seen for a relatively short time each year throughout the eastern United States during their spring and fall migrations. This is because most palm warblers breed up in the boreal forests of Canada and spend their winters in the warmer climates of Florida and the coastlines of the southeastern US. They also head south to Central America and many of the islands in the Caribbean.
The palm warbler is a handsome bird. It has an overall brownish-olive coloration, with a sunny yellow chin and a bright chestnut brown patch on the top of its head. It also has a distinct yellowish-white eyebrow stripe and a pale yellow belly. If you see these color patterns it is a pretty sure bet that you have seen a palm warbler.
Like most warblers, palm warblers are mainly insect eaters. They love to eat ants, flies, caterpillars, beetles and even tiny gnats. They search for bugs on the ground and among the leafy branches of small bushes and shrubs. They sometimes imitate flycatchers by flying out from a perch and catching flying insects in mid-air, too. When insects are scarce they will also eat a variety of seeds and small fruits.
Since they are often seen hopping along the ground in their search for food, it is fairly easy to see the characteristic bobbing of their tails. Unlike other warblers, palm warblers rarely hunt for insects high up in the trees. This makes them much more visible to both new and experienced bird watchers.
Even though these small birds spend their entire summer nesting season up in Canada, they got their name from the German naturalist Johann Gmelin who first described them on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in the 1700s. Hispaniola, of course, was covered in palm trees, and the name stuck since so many of these warblers were (and still are) spending the winters there.
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