Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- North America; Passeriformes; Wood warblers
The eggs vary in shape from ovate to short ovate, rarely tending to
elongate ovate, and are only slightly lustrous. They are white or creamy
white, speckled, blotched, or clouded with tones of "pecan brown,"
"russet," "Mars brown," "cinnamon-brown," "chestnut-brown," "bay," or
"auburn," with undertones of "benzo brown," "light brownish drab,"
"light violet-gray," or "pale Quaker drab." There is quite a little
variation in the markings, ranging from spots and undertones that are
distinct and clearly defined to spots clouded together and undertones
only faintly discernible. The markings are usually concentrated at the
large end, often forming a loose wreath, or sometimes a solid cap of
brown. Occasionally, markings are well scattered over the entire egg.
There seem to be two distinct types, one having spots of two or three
shades of brown, with gray undertones, the other with tones of only one
shade of brown, with drab undertones. The measurements of 50 eggs
average 16.9 by 12.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure =18.9= by 13.0, 16.7 by =13.5=, =15.2= by 12.2, and 17.0 by
=11.8= millimeters (Harris).
_Young._--The period of incubation for the black-throated blue warbler,
according to Miss Stanwood's notes, is about 12 days; and the young
remain in the nest for about 10 days. Incubation of the eggs and
brooding of the young is done by the female only, but feeding the young
and cleaning the nest is shared about equally with the male. She saw the
young fed with daddy-long-legs, white moths, caterpillars, crane-flies,
mosquitoes, and many other insects.
Quoting from the notes of J. A. Farley, Mr. Forbush (1929) gives the
following picture of a brooding female: "She had spread the white
feathers of her lower parts out so completely over her young that there
was not a vestige now visible of the four young that I had found a short
time previously filling the nest so full. She 'fluffed' herself out so
as to hide all traces of the young. * * * She made a beautiful picture.
The whole effect was wonderful. The bird seemed to be sitting in a
billowy mass of eider down, or cotton wool, that swelled, or rather
bulged, up all around her, a regular bed of down."
Mrs. Nice (1930b) watched a brood of young black-throated blue warblers,
in Pelham, Mass., for 7 consecutive days, June 24 to 30, and for a total
of 36-1/2 hours. During this time the female fed the young 193 times and
the male, 201 times; the average feeding time was once in 5.6 minutes;
the female brooded 22 times, a total of 200 minutes, mainly in the
earlier half of the period; the feces were eaten by the female 6 times
and by the male 13 times; they were carried away by the female 47 times
and by the male 67 times.
As to the food of the young, Mrs. Harding (1931) writes:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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