Protonotaria citrea
male
The Prothonotary Warbler is a colorful and distinctive songbird with a relatively long, slender bill. The sexes are subtly dissimilar. Adult males have a bright yellow head, neck, and underparts. The back is olive-brown and the wings are blue-gray with pale feather margins. The mainly dark tail has bold white spots, and the legs and bill are dark. Adult females and immatures are similar to adult males but less colorful, and with smaller spots on the tail.
The Prothonotary Warbler is present as a breeding species mainly from May to August. It spends the rest of the year in coastal regions of Central America and northern South America, typically in mangrove forests. Unusually among wood warblers, it nests in treeholes and will use a nestbox.
female
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5.5 in (14 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates
HABITAT Damp woodland, often near rivers
STATUS Locally common summer visitor
VOICE Song is a series of liquid swiit-swiit-swiit . . . notes. Call is a sharp tchip
