Blackpoll Warbler
Setophaga striata
This bird performs a legendary non-stop flight over the Atlantic Ocean for up to 3 days, covering over 1,500 miles without landing.
- Scientific name
- Setophaga striata
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Parulidae › Setophaga
- IUCN Red List status
- Near Threatened
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Boreal coniferous forests during breeding; various wooded areas during migration; tropical forests in winter.
- Diet
- Primarily insects like spruce budworms and spiders; switches to berries and fruit during migration.
- Range
- North America, South America, Atlantic Ocean (migration route)
- Size
- 12-15 cm length, 12-20 g weight
- Lifespan
- Up to 8 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss in both boreal and tropical regions, window collisions during migration, and climate change affecting food availability.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and shy. Best viewed through binoculars. Avoid sudden movements that might startle them during their critical feeding periods before or after long migrations.
The blackpoll warbler ( Setophaga striata ) is a New World warbler. Breeding males are mostly black and white. They have a prominent black cap, white cheeks and white wing bars. The blackpoll breeds in forests of northern North America, from Alaska throughout most of Canada, to the mountains of New York and New England. They are a common migrant through much of North America. Come fall, they fly South to the Greater Antilles and the Northeastern coasts...
Photo: Kent McFarland, CC0, via iNaturalist
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