Pl. CLXXIII
The Birds · Plate CLXXIII
Bay-breasted Warbler
Setophaga castanea
Parulidae · Taxon 145236
| Length | 5.5 in (14 cm), both sexes |
| Wingspan | 7.9–8.7 in (20–22 cm), both sexes |
| Weight | 0.3–0.6 oz (10–17 g), both sexes |
Field marks
- Breeding male has a dark chestnut crown, throat, breast, and flanks, a black face, a creamy buff neck patch, and grayish, dark-streaked upperparts
- Breeding female lacks the male’s black mask and shows a paler pattern with variable bay or chestnut on the crown, face, upper chest, and flanks
- Nonbreeding females and immatures have a yellow-green head and back, a plain low-contrast face, pale unstreaked underparts, and buff-olive flanks and undertail coverts
- Two bold white wingbars contrast with the dark wings in every plumage
- Compact pointed bill is dark with variable pale or pinkish areas; the eye, legs, and feet are dark
- Long folded wings and a relatively compact tail, with the tail tip square or slightly notched
HabitatMature boreal forests dominated by spruce and fir during breeding; varied forests and edges during migration; wet lowland tropical forest, second growth, and open woodland in the nonbreeding season.
BehaviorA deliberate foliage gleaner that hops and makes short flights through inner and middle tree branches, taking insects from foliage and occasionally hovering. It often joins mixed-species flocks outside the breeding season, when fruit becomes a larger part of its diet.
Palette
olive yellow-greencreamy buffdark charcoal graywhitedeep bay chestnut