ID Keys: Yellow chest, gray overall (darker on top, lighter on
bottom), yellow undertail coverts
Virginia's
Warbler is a bird of dry, brushy canyons of the western U.S. Virginia's
Warbler was unknown in South Dakota until 1997, when many dozens of breeding
pairs were found in extreme western Custer County (see
Swanson et al. 2000). The find of this breeding population extended the
known breeding range of the species by over 200km to the northeast of known
existing breeding locations. They remain as regular breeding birds in this
area of South Dakota, and have also been found in a few other scattered
locations around the Black Hills. They can be difficult to observe even in known breeding
locations, given the density of vegetation they prefer to nest in.
Habitat
Prefers low, dry, brushy habitats
of the western U.S., including oak canyons, pinyon-juniper woods, and scrub oak.
In their limited range in southwestern South Dakota, they are found in an area
of "shrubby understory of skunkbush sumac and mountain-mahogany, with
interspersed or adjacent Rocky Mountain juniper and ponderosa pine" (from
Swanson et al. 2000, in The Southwestern Naturalist 45(1)). Most
birds in South Dakota are found on slopes.
Diet
Diet not known in detail, but nearly exclusively
eats insects as with most warblers.
Behavior
Will feed from the ground up into the
canopy, although usually stays low in trees and shrubs and close to the
ground. They glean insects from foliage and branches, or hunt for
insects along the ground. Virginia's Warblers will also occasionally
fly out from a perch to capture flying insects in mid-air.
Nesting
Late May through July. The nest is a cup,
placed on the ground and built of grasses, lichens, moss, bark, and other
vegetative material. It is usually lined with finer grasses and hairs. .
The nest is usually placed next to cover, such as the base of a rock, a clump of
vegetation, under a root, or next to a tree trunk. They prefer nesting on
steep slopes, with the next placed on the downslope side of the primary cover
element. The female lays between 3 and 5 eggs, with both the male and female
helping to incubate them. The young hatch after about 12 days, and leave the
nest after about 2 weeks.
