Mojave River Valley Museum
Townsend's Warbler
Dendroica townsendiA small songbird of the New World warbler family. These birds have a yellow face with a black stripe across their cheeks, a thin pointed bill, white wing bars, olive upperparts with black streaks on their back, black streaks on their flanks and a white belly.
Their breeding habitat is coniferous forests with large trees on the northwestern coast of North America. The nest is an shallow cup built with grass and lined with moss usually placed on top of a branch in a conifer. The female lays 4 to 5 eggs. This bird is closely related to the Hermit Warbler and the two species interbreed where their ranges overlap.
They forage actively in the higher branches, sometimes hovering or catching insects in flight. They mainly eat insects and also spiders and seeds. Outside of the nesting season, they forage in mixed flocks. In winter, they also eat berries and plant nectar.
