The name "Prothonotary" originally referred to a group of official scribes in the Catholic Church who wore bright yellow hoods, as this bird appears to do. On the other hand, P. citrea are not territorial during the wintering season and live together peacefully. having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Males sometimes sing songs when trying to impress females during aerial display. gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate), The Birds of North America, Vol. Their populations declined over 1% per year from 1966–2015, resulting in a cumulative loss of 42% over that period, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight (2017). Dunne, P. (2006). The female chooses her mate based on the quality or the number of cavities that he has produced. Help us improve the site by taking our survey. Prothonotary Warblers breed in flooded bottomland forests, wooded swamps, and forests near lakes and streams. The call is a loud, dry chip, like that of a hooded warbler. He selects a few good spots and displays in front of each site for the female. Nests above standing water greater than 11 inches deep were less likely to be depredated by raccoons than those in shallower areas. Obsolete English Names: golden swamp warbler. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA. These warblers prefer lowland forests near standing water for nesting sites. Males place small amounts of moss into the nest cavity, building dummy nests, but only female builds real nest. Nest height ranges from about 2–33 feet above the ground, depending on availability of nesting holes. [3] The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Terres, J. Disclaimer: Its flight call is a loud seeep. Classification, To cite this page: This destruction of Protonotaria citrea habitat has produced a decline in their population. It is unique among eastern warblers in its habit of nesting in holes in trees, rather than in the open; it will sometimes nest in birdhouses placed close to the water. The Audobon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. They thought the bird's plumage resembled the yellow robes of the prothonotaries, a Catholic church official who advises the Pope. The species rates a 14 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score and is on the 2016 State of North America's Birds' Watch List, which includes bird species that are most at risk of extinction without significant conservation actions to reverse declines and reduce threats. Habitat: Prothonotary Warblers breed in wooded swamps, flooded bottomland forests, and along slow-moving rivers. Curson, J., D. Quinn, and D. Beadle. The eggs hatch usually within 12 hours of each other and the newborn nestlings remain in the nest for the next 10-11 days. living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. The following breeding characteristics were investigated in this study: (1) timing of first and second nesting; (2) Many of these birds return to the same breeding area yearly. Similar Species In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, editor). It takes the female 3–8 days to build a nest. A Prothonotary Warbler perched on the wooden railing of a bridge spanning a small stream. To entice the female to check out potential nesting sites, he enters and exits the hole several times. If a fledgling Prothonotary Warbler lands in the water after its first flight, it can swim to safety.