NEW WORLD WARBLERS (PARULIDAE)

NEW WORLD WARBLERS (PARULIDAE)

Well known for their songs, New World Warblers are small Birds with thin legs. In constant motion, these colourful Birds delight bird watchers everywhere. New World Warblers are in their own family, and not related to either the Eurasian or Australian Warblers.

“The Oven Bird” by Robert Frost

There is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would sing and be as other birds,
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
is what to make of a diminished thing.

OVENBIRD: The Ebb and Flow of Time

The subject of Robert Frost’s poem, Ovenbird is a small olive-brown Bird with a crown of orange feathers. During the summer, He chants “tea-cher, TEA-cher”. Often heard, Ovenbird is not usually seen. Meanwhile, Female Ovenbird makes a nest on the ground. Because her snug nest resembles a Dutch oven, She and her mate came be called, “Ovenbird”.

Ovenbird helps to attune us to the seasons. In the Northern United States, He appears in May heralding the warmer weather. Come fall, Ovenbird leaves for warmer regions. However He will return in the spring. Follow the seasons with Ovenbird as your guide. Feel the ebb and flow of time as Robert Frost notes in his poem.

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Science Notes:

1. Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) is a member of the Family of New World Warblers (Parulidae), and is not the same bird as Rufous Ovenbird of the Furnariidae Family.

RUFOUS OVENBIRD (RUFOUS HORNERO): Durability

OVENBIRD AND THORNBIRD FAMILY

One of the most diverse Families of Birds is the Ovenbird and Thornbird Family (Furnariidae). What They are all noted for is making elaborate and conspicuous nests. For example Rufous-fronted Thornbird (Phacellodomus rufifrons) constructs an elaborate multi-storey nest. Although this Thornbird only uses one “room”, the remainder are used by other lodgers such as non-related Thornbirds and other Birds.

RUFOUS OVENBIRD (RUFOUS HORNERO): Durability

Known as “El Hornero” in South America, Rufous Ovenbird builds his nest resembling an old-fashioned oven (hornero). Throughout South America, his distinctive nest can be found on fence posts and under roof eaves. Virtually indestructible, his baked mud nest is only vulnerable to constant rain over the years. After his Family fledges, He leaves the old nest, which then becomes a home for Insects and other Birds.

Building the nest takes both Rufous Ovenbird Parents eight months. Mixing straw and cow-dung, They build their nest on a tree branch. Then the hot South American sun bakes this nest rock hard. Meanwhile, inside the nest is a baffle wall that will keep out any prevailing winds. Also this wall deters any predator from reaching in and harming the Birds. Because the nest is so durable, the two Ovenbirds make no effort to conceal it.

Rufous Ovenbird builds his nest to last. Only rain, over time, will erode the nest. Until then, the abandoned nest becomes a home for other Animals. Learn from Rufous Ovenbird how to build a durable home for the ages.

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Science Notes:
1. Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) is a member of the Family of New World Warblers (Parulidae), and is not the same bird as Rufous Ovenbird of the Furnariidae Family.