Friends of Salter Grove logo
Menu

Magnolia Warbler

Setophaga magnolia
Parulidae
Male with distinctive black and yellow plumage
Male with dramatic black streaks radiating from black neck band
Gray cap and black mask of male
Black markings in male are gray in female
Female has dark streaks but lacks male's black mask
Older females have male-like plumage
Magnolia warbler nest; 2-5 eggs in clutch
Both parents feed young
Immature has two thin white wing bars
Immature has white eye ring but no white eyebrow
Immature feeding independently
Immature is grayish olive-green above
White band in tail present in adult and juvenile plumages

The Magnolia Warbler is only seen in New England during migration as it travels to and from its wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.  At Salter Grove, it has been observed foraging for insects in the tall black oaks north of the playground area although it can be seen closer to ground level as well.

There are other distinctively black and yellow warblers, but the Magnolia Warbler is additionally distinguished by a black tail with a conspicuous white band across its middle.  The male is striking, wearing a black mask with black streaks running down the bright yellow underparts from a black collar.  Females look like a duller version of the male with gray where the male is colored black, and immatures of the year look much like females.

Despite its name the Magnolia Warbler has little to do with Magnolia trees.  It just so happened that a migrating individual was first observed in a Magnolia tree in Mississippi by the ornithologist who named it.  Subsequent studies revealed that it breeds only in dense boreal forest across central and southern Canada and the northern midwest of the U.S.  These forests consist of conifers like pines, balsam firs, larch, spruce, and hemlock as well as broad-leaved species like red maple, balsam poplar, large-tooth aspen.