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Swainson's Warbler | Limnothlypis swainsonii
Swainsons zanger | Chipe corona café
Swainson's Warbler is a plain brown warbler with a long bill that lives on the ground in dense undergrowth. It breeds in the south-eastern United States, in canebrake and swamp forest in the lowlands and in rhododendron thickets in the Appalachians. In the guide area it is a scarce and hard-to-see winter visitor, mainly on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Voice
The song begins with two to four clear, descending whistles and ends in a rapid, descending series; it resembles that of Louisiana Waterthrush. The call is a loud, dry chip. In winter almost only the call.
Recording: Sue Riffe — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
13–14 cm. Crown warm rufous-brown, without stripes. A long pale supercilium and a dark stripe through the eye. Upperparts olive-brown; wings and tail unmarked. Underparts dull white to pale yellowish, flanks greyish. Bill long, pointed and pale at the base. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Worm-eating Warbler Helmitheros vermivorum has a buff head with black stripes and buff underparts, and forages above the ground in dead leaves. The waterthrushes (Parkesia) and Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla have dark-streaked or spotted underparts.
Habitat
In winter dense undergrowth of humid and semi-humid lowland forest, swamp forest and rank, dense secondary forest. It walks over the ground and flips dead leaves aside with its bill in search of insects, spiders and other small invertebrates.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Breeds in the south-eastern United States. Winters on the Yucatán Peninsula, in Belize and on Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas. In the guide area mainly in the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo and in Belize; scarce and irregular in southern Veracruz, northern Guatemala and Honduras. On passage in north-eastern Mexico and along the Gulf Coast.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Best found by listening in dense forest on the Yucatán Peninsula for the rustle of leaves being turned and for the dry call; the bird almost always stays low and in cover.
Conservation status
Not threatened (LC). One of the least numerous North American warblers. Sensitive to clearance of lowland forest in its small wintering area.
Scientific name
Limnothlypis swainsonii | (Audubon, 1834)
Audubon described the species in 1834 as Sylvia Swainsonii; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Limnothlypis was introduced in 1914 by Stone. Limnothlypis is Greek, from limnē 'marsh' and thlupis, an unidentified small bird: 'marsh warbler', after its swampy forest habitat. swainsonii honours the English naturalist and illustrator William Swainson (1789–1855). The specimen the first description was based on came from Edisto River near Charleston, South Carolina (USA).