Adelaide’s Warbler

Adelaide’s Warbler (Eng.), Reinita Mariposera (Sp.), Dendroica adelaidae (Sci.), endemic species – Puerto Rico and Vieques islands.

Photo © 2008, William Hull. Information compiled by Alan Mowbray, Interpretive Media Writer, EYNF/LEF

General Information

Taxonomy: Class – Aves, Order – Passeriformes, Family – Parulidae, Genus – Dendroica, Species – D. adelaidae. Endemic species, Puerto Rico archipelago – named after Adelaide Smith, the daughter of Robert Smith, an avian biologist who collected the first type specimen for the Smithsonian Institution.

Description

D. adelaidae has a gray upper body and yellow breast. It has a yellow and white line above each eye with a white or yellow “half-moon” crescent below the eye. Average bill to tail length is 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) – typical weight is 0.25 ounces (7 grams).

Habits

Adelaide’s Warbler is an insectivore, gleaning insects such as caterpillars, flies, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders and even butterflies (its Spanish name “Mariposera” translates loosely as “butterfly hunter”) at middle and higher areas of the forest. It will occasionally consume small amphibians such as coqui frogs (Eluertherodactylae). It characteristically travels in mixed flocks that may include Puerto Rican Todies (Todus mexicanus), Vireos and other new-world warblers. Its call is a sharp, loud “chik” (click here for recording). Its song is a sudden ascending (or descending) trill which can be heard all year long, during morning hours. Adelaide’s Warblers build cup-shaped nests in tree branches or shrubs at heights of 3.2 to 23 feet (1 to 7 meters). Females lay 2 to 4 brown-spotted white eggs.

Habitat:

Adelaide’s Warbler is found only on the main island of Puerto Rico and on the offshore island of Vieques. It occurs primarily in the dry forests of the southern region, although it has been seen to occur in moist forests that include tangled vines and thickets along the Cordillera Central (central mountain range) and in the north and northeast sectors of the island. Adelaide’s Warbler was formerly “lumped” with related species on the Caribbean islands of Barbuda and St. Lucia – taxonomists have recently split them into three separate species based on variations in plumage and song. The Puerto Rico species retained the Adelaide’s Warbler name, while the other species were renamed Barbuda Warbler (D. subita) and St. Lucia Warbler (D. delicate).

Conservation

Adelaide’s Warbler is currently classified as “Least Concern” in the IUCN Red Data List.

Where to look for this animal in the EYNF

Adelaide’s Warblers have been spotted (flocking with other avian species) in Guama trees on the El Portal nature trail and near the Palo Colorado Interpretive Site. The flowering Guama seems to be a very popular assembly point for flocking and gleaning birds.

Individual Adelaide’s Warblers have also been occasionally sighted by scientists in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, a section of the El Yunque National Forest.