The Traveler

Bird of the Day Series, Social Media Content

Photo: Rick Carlson

This is the Canada Warbler, sometimes called the Canadian Flycatcher. They eat butterflies and spiders but, mostly, they eat flies, and are among the few species who catch flies in mid-flight.  

At 6” long with a 9” wingspan, and because they’re yellow, you’d think they’d be easy to spot but they are quite elusive. You can hear them though; their call is ‘chip chewy sweet dichetty’, and it’s the males who sing—when trying to mate, they sing up to six songs a minute.  

They live in forests, wherever there is bog and moss, and usually at just six to eight feet. Their territory is huge: from the Yukon to Nova Scotia to Georgia. Then, at the end of September, they flock with other species and, flying only at night, head through Texas and Mexico and settle for the winter in Guyana and Bolivia. But, in 2006, one was found in Ireland, another in Iceland. 

They mate for life; females build the nest and both parents feed their four chicks, who are helpless for about a month. Sadly, their populations are rapidly declining, thanks to tree diseases, deforestation and acid rain. They are classified as Threatened.