Nashville Warbler Visits Our Toronto Backyard

Of the various Warblers frequenting our backyard one spring, it was the Pine Warblers and this Nashville Warbler that made the longest stays.  We experienced long periods without rain that spring so the water fountain on our property was a real attraction for a lot of migrating birds.

This male Nashville Warbler loved to hang around the fountain and routinely splashed about the water as it drips over the contours of the upper sculpture into the basin.

I like to think that perhaps the birch trees also play a part in the Nashville Warblers’ presence in our yard since their preferred habitats are open deciduous and mixed woods where either aspen or birch are a component and thickets in old clearings that have yet to become overgrown with mature trees

It is both insect larvae and mature insects, as well as caterpillars, that make up the bulk of a Nashville Warbler’s diet.  These small, sprightly songbirds are a mere 4-5 inches (10-13 cm) long, so when they are flitting about the top of my apple tree or mountain ash, it is difficult to catch them sitting still long enough for a photograph.

I would love to have the Nashville Warblers nest on our property, but in all honesty, I would fear for their lives because of the neighborhood feral cats. These warblers build their open, cup-shaped nest on the ground albeit hidden at the base of a brushy thicket or in a clump of stiff grass.  Somehow, I just don’t think that would be a safe option given the cats that prowl the backyards of our Toronto community.

Frame To Frame – Bob and Jean