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Protonotaria citrea (Boddaert, 1783)
Prothonotary Warbler
Family: Parulidae

Species account author: Jamie Fenneman
Introduction to the Birds

Photograph

© Allen Woodliffe     (Photo ID #10830)

Map


Distribution of Protonotaria citrea in British Columbia.
(Click on the map to view a larger version.)
Source: Distribution map provided by Jamie Fenneman for E-Fauna BC

Species Information

Adult male
The back and scapulars are olive-green; the rump and uppertail coverts are blue-grey. The wings are blue-grey with olive-green lesser upperwing coverts. The relatively short, square-tipped tailed is black with blue-grey outer feather edges and large white patches on the inner webs of all but the central pair of feathers. The entire head, breast, belly, and flanks are bright golden-yellow, fading to white on the lower belly and undertail coverts. In fresh fall plumage, the crown and nape feathers are tipped with olive-green. The iris is dark, the relatively long, slender, pointed bill is black (duller and browner during the fall and winter, with an extensive pale base to the lower mandible), and the legs and feet are dark grey. The dark eye is very prominent on the otherwise wholly bright yellow head.

Adult female
Very similar to adult male, but duller overall, with a stronger and more extensive olive-green wash on the crown, nape, and neck and slightly duller yellow on the face and underparts. The white spots in the tail feathers are smaller than those of the male. Bill slightly duller than adult male, with a paler base to the lower mandible (brown to flesh-coloured).

Immature
The immature plumage of both sexes is acquired in late summer and is held throughout the first winter. Both sexes resemble adult females, and many immature males may be indistinguishable from adult females (although most are slightly brighter than females, with larger white spots in the tail). Immature females are even more heavily washed with olive-green on the head than adult females. All immatures have a browner bill with an extensive flesh-pink base to the lower mandible.

Measurements
Total Length: 13.3-14 cm
Mass: 13.6-20 g

Source: Curson et al. (1994); Dunn and Garrett (1997); Petit (1999)


Biology

Identification

This species is very distinctive in all plumages, particularly adult male plumage, and should not cause any serious identification problems. Blue-winged Warbler is superficially similar, but always shows a dark line through the eye and is a smaller, more slender, and more slender-billed species.
Vocalizations

The male’s song is a relatively simple series of repeated high, clear, somewhat upslurred notes: sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet or tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet. The common call is a loud, sharp, dry tschip or chip, reminiscent of the call of the Northern Waterthrush but slightly softer. Both sexes also give a quiet, thin tsip. The flight call (also given by perched birds) is a loud, rising seeep that lacks the buzzy tones found in the flight calls of many other warbler species.

Source: Dunn and Garrett (1997); Petit (1999); Sibley (2000)

Bird calls (and videos) from Cornell's Lab of Ornithology
Breeding Ecology

The Prothonotary Warbler is a vagrant to British Columbia and does not breed in the province.
Foraging Ecology

The Prothonotary Warbler is relatively slow and deliberate during foraging. Most foraging occurs in shrubs or at low levels in trees, although it sometimes ascends to forage in the canopy of small to medium-sized trees (males foraging higher than females). It feeds primarily on insects and spiders, including aquatic species, and sometimes consumes small crustaceans and snails. It will consume seeds, berries, and small fruits on the wintering grounds, but it is unclear whether this applies to fall migrants as well. It typically searches for prey along the trunk and major branches of trees, inspecting cracks and crevices in the bark in much the same manner as the Black-and-white Warbler. It also gleans insects from twigs and leaves, and picks invertebrates from the ground at the edge of pools and creeks. It commonly forages on fallen logs, standing snags, and other sources of decayed wood.

Source: Curson et al. (1994); Dunn and Garrett (1997); Petit (1999)

Habitat


Vagrants in B.C. have generally occurred in shrubby thickets or at the edges of the deciduous woodlands, often in riparian areas. One vagrant occurred in a residential area. This species may be expected in any area where there is an abundance of deciduous trees and shrubs, particularly where warblers and other neotropical migrants tend to congregate during migration.

Distribution

Global Range

The Prothonotary Warbler is widespread throughout the eastern United States, from Minnesota and Connecticut south to the Gulf coast and Florida, west to the Great Plains; a few pairs breed each year in extreme southern Ontario. It winters along the Atlantic coast of Central America north to the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico, as well as along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Panama. It also winters locally in the Caribbean and in northern South America. It is a very rare vagrant in western North America.
BC Distribution

Vagrancy
This species is a casual fall vagrant in southwestern B.C., including the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. It is a casual summer vagrant in southeastern B.C. and is accidental during fall migration in the south-central interior (Okanagan Valley). This species is well documented in B.C., and most observations have been accompanied by specimen or photographic evidence.

The British Columbia records of Prothonotary Warbler are as follows:

1.(1) adult male; November 16, 2001; Victoria
2.(1) adult male; October 5-7, 2002; George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner
3.(1) adult male; October 9-10, 2002; Chesterman’s Beach, near Tofino
4.(1) adult male; July 14, 2005; Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area
5.(1) adult male; June 10, 2007; Mirror Lake, Kaslo
6.(1) adult male; August 27-28, 2008; Vaseux Lake, Okanagan Valley

Conservation

Population and Conservation Status

This species has only recently been documented in British Columbia (2001), but has been recorded almost annually since. This pattern of occurrence parallels that of several other vagrant eastern warblers in the province (e.g., Hooded Warbler, Northern Parula) that were formerly considered extreme rarities but over the past 5-10 years have appeared almost annually. Although it is widespread and often common in the eastern United States, the Prothonotary Warbler is a rare, local, and declining breeder in Canada, where it is restricted to a few small areas of southern Ontario. It is considered Endangered in Canada by COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada).

Source: COSEWIC (2007)

Taxonomy


This species is monotypic, with no recognized subspecies. It is the only member of the genus Pronotaria, but its relationship to other genera in the family Parulidae is not entirely clear.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeSNAAccidentalE (Apr 2007)



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