ID Keys: Light gray overall with rusty "cap" upper part of the base
of the tail
The
Lucy's Warbler is a rather plain looking but unusual warbler of the deserts
of the American Southwest. They are the only warbler that summers and
nests in the Sonoran Desert region. They are the smallest of the North
American Warblers. The species was named for the daughter of
well-known ornithologist Spencer Fullerton Baird.
Habitat
The Lucy's Warbler inhabits arid desert woodlands, mesquite bosque, riparian thickets, and dry scrub habitats of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is especially associated with cottonwood-willow corridors, mesquite groves, and desert washes that provide tree cavities or crevices for nesting.
Diet
The Lucy's Warbler feeds mainly on small insects and spiders gathered from foliage, bark, and desert vegetation. Its diet includes caterpillars, beetles, flies, leafhoppers, ants, and other tiny arthropods captured while actively foraging through mesquite and riparian woodlands.
Behavior
Most foraging is done by clambering
through the foliage of desert trees and shrubs, searching for insects. On
occasion they will also fly out to capture insects in mid-air.
Nesting
The nest of a Lucy's Warbler is in
usually in a tree cavity such as an old woodpecker hole, or in the crevices
of loose bark. The nest is made of fine grasses and weeds, strips of
bark, and the leaf stems of mesquite trees. The female is thought to
do the majority of the incubation of the eggs, but both parents forage for
food and help to raise the young.
Song
The Lucy's Warbler sings a rapid, high-pitched series of buzzy and tinkling notes often delivered repeatedly from exposed perches in desert woodlands. Calls include soft chips and thin tseet notes commonly given while foraging through mesquite and riparian vegetation.
Migration
Lucy's Warblers summer in parts of the
southwestern U.S. and far northwestern Mexico. They move a relatively
short distance into western Mexico for the winter.
Unlikely to be mistaken for another warbler species. Most confusion
would likely be with other small plain gray birds, such as
Bell's Vireo, or Gnatcatcher species.
