Home hooded warbler
A brooding female Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina) on a nest containing two 4-day-old nestlings. The bill and head of one of the nestlings is visible on the female’s left. Photo by Ron Mumme.

Living with cowbird nest parasitism—and thriving

By Ronald L. Mumme and Claire Lignac Linked paper: Brood parasitism of Hooded Warblers by Brown-headed Cowbirds: Severe impact on individual nests but modest consequences for seasonal fecundity and conservation by Claire Lignac and Ronald L. Mumme, Ornithological Applications.  Even the most ardent bird enthusiasts find it tough to love the Brown-headed Cowbird. An obligate …

molting-male-hooded-warbler
A tailless molting male Hooded Warbler photographed on 23 August 2019 near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Warblers in this molt stage are typically replacing 50–67% of their 48 flight feathers simultaneously, including all 12 rectrices of the tail and 6–10 of the 18 remiges on each wing. Warblers in high-intensity molt usually skulk in thick vegetation, fly poorly and reluctantly, and are infrequently seen or photographed. Photo by Mary Parker Sonis.

High-intensity Flight Feather Molt: A Cryptic but Critical Phase of the Annual Cycle of Migratory Warblers

By Ronald L. Mumme Linked paper: High-intensity flight feather molt and comparative molt ecology of warblers of eastern North America, by Ronald L. Mumme, Robert S. Mulvihill, David Norman, Ornithology. The lives of migratory songbirds inhabiting the north temperate zone are built around three dramatic and energetically demanding phases of their annual cycle: spring migration, …