Cape May Warbler (Dendroica tigrina)

The Cape May Warbler (Dendroica tigrina) is a little songbird that is found in the boreal forests of Canada, as well as in the New England area. During the colder winter months, the Cape May Warbler will migrate to the West Indies. Being only 4.25 inches in size, the most preferred food of the warbler is spruce budworms. They will also feed on other small insects. This songbird is extremely active and very energetic. Males can still rely on their outer beauty, while being somewhat dull in appearance, the females have to use their charm and personality.

The male Cape May Warbler is a strikingly beautiful bird, predominantly of radiant yellow coloring, with very thin stripes of black across their chests. They will also display chestnut colored cheeks and have patches of white on their wings. Their female counterparts are dull in color and lack the patches on their wings, and the chestnut cheeks.

As mentioned before, the Cape May Warbler feeds on insects, which they will either pick off the plants or catch while in flight. What makes the anatomy of this bird species particularly interesting is its semitubular tongue. This feature is unique to the Cape May Warbler, and enables them to feed on nectar or drink berry juice during the winter months. They are also extremely territorial, and often chase other Cape May Warblers off the tree that they are feeding on.

The Cape May Warbler was first sighted and described by Alexander Wilson, in the Cape May area in New Jersey. The Cape May Warblers build their nests near the trunks of the trees, and prefer nesting in dense forests. Nests are constructed of small twigs and grass, with feathers and hair being used to line them. The females lay between six to eight eggs, and are known to lay more eggs during the times when spruce budworms are in abundance. Only the females take care of the incubation period of the eggs, which are a slightly off-white in color and speckled with gray and brown.