Elfin woods warbler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Elfin woods warbler |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Setophaga
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| Species: |
angelae
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| Range of the elfin woods warbler | |
| Synonyms | |
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Dendroica angelae |
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The elfin woods warbler (Setophaga angelae) is a small bird that lives only in Puerto Rico. It's quite rare and hard to find. Scientists first discovered this bird in 1968, and it was officially described in 1972. This makes it the newest type of New World warbler to be found.
The bird's scientific name, angelae, honors Angela Kepler, one of the people who discovered it. Elfin woods warblers are insectivores, meaning they eat insects. They find their food by picking small insects off leaves.
Because there aren't many of these birds and they live in specific places, people started trying to protect them in 1982. Most of their home is in protected forests, which helps keep them safe. However, dangers like introduced species (like rats and small Asian mongooses), losing their habitat, and natural disasters like hurricanes can still threaten them.
Contents
Discovery and Naming This Bird
The elfin woods warbler belongs to a group of birds called Setophaga within the New World warbler family. It was first seen in 1968 by Cameron and Angela Kepler. They were studying other unique Puerto Rican birds at the time.
On May 18, 1971, they caught one of these birds in El Yunque National Forest. For a while, people thought this was the only place the bird lived. A year later, Cameron Kepler and Kenneth Parkes officially described the species. They named it Dendroica angelae. It was the first new bird species found in the Caribbean since 1927!
Later, in 2010, scientists used mitochondrial DNA to study warblers. They found that many warblers, including the elfin woods warbler, should be grouped under the genus Setophaga. This study also showed that the elfin woods warbler is closely related to the arrowhead warbler from Jamaica and the plumbeous warbler from Dominica and Saint Lucia.
The genus name Setophaga comes from old Greek words meaning "moth" and "eating." The specific name, angelae, honors Angela Kepler. In Spanish, this bird is called Reinita de Bosque Enano.
What Does It Look Like?
The elfin woods warbler is a small passerine (a type of perching bird). It's about 12.5 cm (5 in) long and weighs about 8.4 g (0.30 oz). Its top parts are mostly black with white spots, and its belly is white with black stripes.
Other ways to recognize it include:
- Dark brown eyes
- White patches on its ears and neck
- An incomplete white ring around its eye
- A white stripe above its eye
- Two white spots on its outer tail feathers
Like other warblers from the Antilles islands, it has a long bill and short, round wings. Young birds look a bit different. They have a grayish-green back for about a year.
Similar Birds
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The elfin woods warbler can sometimes be confused with the black-and-white warbler. This other warbler visits Puerto Rico from September to May.
The main difference is on their faces:
- The elfin woods warbler has an incomplete white eye-ring.
- The black-and-white warbler has a bold white stripe above its eye and only the lower half of an eye-ring.
- The elfin woods warbler has a completely black head top.
- The black-and-white warbler's head top has a white stripe down the middle.
Also, black-and-white warblers usually look for food on larger tree branches. Elfin woods warblers prefer the top parts of trees and smaller branch tips.
Its Voice
The elfin woods warbler's song and call are hard to hear. Its voice is quiet and sounds a bit like the bananaquit, which is a very common bird in Puerto Rico.
Its song is a series of "short, fast, unmusical notes all on one pitch." It gets louder and ends with "distinct double syllables that sound a bit lower." Its call is described as "a single, short, metallic chip."
How It Behaves
Breeding and Nests
Elfin woods warblers breed from March to June. Both the mother and father bird help build the nest and feed the baby birds.
Nests are usually built close to the tree trunk in dry, fallen leaves, often from Cecropia trees. No other warbler species uses these leaves! Nests are also found in Bulbophyllum wadsworthii trees. They are well-hidden and usually 1.3 to 7.6 meters (4.3 to 24.9 ft) above the ground.
In 2003, a nest with four chicks was found inside a tree stump of a Colorado tree (Cyrilla racemiflora) in Maricao. This nest was about 15 feet high in a secondary forest area.
The nests are shaped like cups and are made from small roots, twigs, and dry leaves. The inside is lined with plant fibers and other soft plant material. Females lay two or three white eggs with red-brown spots. The baby birds eat insects. Parents have been seen feeding them adult moths, grasshoppers, and moth caterpillars.
How It Finds Food
The elfin woods warbler often looks for insects in the middle part of the forest canopy (the top layer of leaves). While searching for food, it often joins groups of other birds. These groups might include black-and-white warblers, Puerto Rican tanagers, and Lesser Antillean pewees.
Scientists have described three ways this bird catches its prey:
- Gleaning: This is when the bird picks insects off leaves while standing or moving. This is the most common way they find food.
- Sally-hovering: This is when the bird flies out to catch an insect in the air, then hovers to grab it.
- Probing: This is when the bird digs with its beak into the ground or other surfaces to find food, similar to how chickens scratch. This is the least common way they find food.
Where Does It Live?
When the elfin woods warbler was first found, people thought it only lived in the high-up, dwarf or elfin forests of the El Yunque National Forest in eastern Puerto Rico. These forests are windy, and the trees are short, usually less than 5 meters (16 ft) tall. They have stiff, thick twigs and tough leaves, making them dense and good for hiding from predators.
Later studies showed that the bird also moves to lower areas, between 370 and 600 meters (1,210 and 1,970 ft), in Tabonuco and Palo Colorado forests. Three more groups of these birds were found in other forests:
- The Maricao State Forest (1972), which has the largest known group.
- The Carite State Forest (1977).
- The Toro Negro State Forest (late 1970s).
Sadly, the bird is now thought to be gone from Carite and Toro Negro. It is only found in El Yunque National Forest and Maricao State Forest.
The elfin forest in El Yunque National Forest gets a lot of rain and is very humid. It has cool temperatures and strong winds. It's found on mountain tops and has many dense shrubs and small trees covered in moss and other plants. The Maricao State Forest also gets a lot of rain.
Status and Protection
How Many Are There?
In September 1989, Hurricane Hugo hit Puerto Rico. It affected three of the four known groups of elfin woods warblers: El Yunque, Toro Negro, and Carite. Two years later, a survey in the Toro Negro Forest found no birds. Scientists believe the groups in Carite and Toro Negro are now gone.
Bird counts are done every few years to keep track of the elfin woods warbler. In 2001, only three birds were found in the Maricao State Forest. However, more recent estimates suggest there are at least 1,800 adult birds, which means about 2,700 individual birds in total.
What Threats Does It Face?
The elfin woods warbler faces two main dangers:
- Predators: Birds like the pearly-eyed thrasher and the Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk naturally hunt them. Other animals brought by humans, like domestic cats, dogs, black rats, and small Asian mongooses, also hunt their nests. These introduced animals have become common in the forests because of buildings there.
- Habitat Loss: Both natural events and human activities destroy the warbler's home. Building communication towers, logging (cutting down trees), and making more roads and trails have all harmed their habitat. Natural disasters like forest fires and hurricanes also destroy their homes.
How Is It Protected?
The United States government started looking into protecting the elfin woods warbler in 1982. In 1999, it was added to a list of species that might need protection under the Endangered Species Act. In 2005, scientists asked the government to protect 225 species, including this warbler.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) first checked on the elfin woods warbler in 1988. Back then, it was considered "lower risk." Its status changed over the years:
- 1994: Lower risk/near threatened
- 2000: Vulnerable
- 2017: Endangered
The IUCN changed its status to endangered because it lives in a very small area and its habitat continues to be destroyed.
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See also
In Spanish: Reinita de Ángela para niños
