Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor) The Florida race (D. discolor paludicola) of this familiar little bird is a year-round resident of mangrove forests and coastal strand, while its numbers are augmented by wintering birds.

According to Stevenson and Anderson, it is distributed “throughout the state except interior of Panhandle, increasing from very rare northward to fairly common in parts of s. Florida.” According to Cornell’s Birds of North America, “The Prairie Warbler appears to be a promising candidate for comparative experimental investigation of differences between a migratory generalist subspecies and a sedentary specialist subspecies. Examples might be studies of habitat selection and of genetic, developmental, and physiological bases for the expression of migratory behavior.” The Prairie Warbler breeds in early successional habitats, which means scrubland and abandoned farmland. It also means that where it bred last year, or for the last several years, it might not breed again for some time.

Dunne calls it “The Yellow Spectacled Warbler,” which is his way of putting what Garrett and Dunn describe as “a distinctive facial pattern” in all plumages, “with a yellow supercilium (whitish in some plumages), dark transocular line, broad pale crescent below the eye, and dark lower border to the cheek.” It also has pale yellow wing bars, which helps separate it from the myriad species with white wing bars.

Prairies, like their cousins the Palm Warbler, tend to bob their tail (“Given a few minutes, almost any Prairie Warbler will bob its tail,” says Stevenson). They also tend to stay fairly low to the ground, although perhaps not so low as the Palm. Dunne quips “some Prairie Warblers may go through their entire lives without ever seeing the canopy of a tree.” It will often “hover-glean” at the end of a branch like a kinglet.

In case you’re curious: Dendroica comes from the greek dendron (tree), and oicos (inhabit): treedweller. Discolor: “of different colors.” Paludicola is derived from the latin palustris, marsh. So our Florida race of this bird is the different-colored marshy tree-dweller. Not an entirely inane description!