Orange-crowned Warbler, Leiothlypis celata

Orange-crowned Warbler, Leiothlypis celata celata. Photographs taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, April 2020 and April 2021. Photographs and identifications courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

Orange-crowned Warbler, Leiothlypis celata lutescens. Photograph taken within the Reserva Chara Pinta, El Palmito, Sinaloa, February 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Orange-crowned Warbler, Leiothlypis celata lutescens. Photographs taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, October 2020 and May 2021. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

The Orange-crowned Warbler, Leiothlypis celata celata and Leiothlypis celata lutescens, are two of four subspecies of Orange-crowned Warbler, all four of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Parulidae Family of New World Warblers, which has one hundred eleven species placed in eighteen genera and is one of six global species of the Leiothlypis Genus. They are known in Mexico as chipe celato.

The Orange-crowned Warbler is medium-sized warbler. The sexes are similar in appearance. They are a plain dusky olive-green color above, with brighter yellow on the rump and upper-tail coverts, and a grayer crown and hind-neck. Their crown has a brownish-orange patch that can be hard to see. Their underparts are greenish-yellow and faintly streaked and can vary to dull to bright yellow that vary within subspecies. Their eyes are black with a partial white or yellowish eye-ring. Their bill is small with a sharp fine tip and horn in color, their iris is black, and their legs and feet are horn colored.

In Mexico, Orange-crowned Warblers winter in open pine, pine-oak, fir forest, thickets, gardens, parks, borders ranging from lowland tropical evergreen to the cloud forest and high-elevation pine-oak forest. They primarily consume a wide variety of invertebrates and limited amounts of berries, fruits, and sap. They are known to visit backyard bird feeders to consume suet during the winter. They nest on or near the ground. They have life spans of up to six years.

Most populations of the Orange-crowned Warbler are long-distance migrators that summer and breed throughout most of western and northern North America, and east across Canada making annual fall and spring migrations to winter in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Mexico they are found throughout the country being primarily found in coastal regions but also at elevations up to 3,000 m (9,840 feet). The celata subspecies is found in eastern Mexico south to Veracruz and south to Belize and eastern Guatemala. The lutescens subspecies is found in coastal western Mexico south to Guatemala.

The Orange-crowned Warbler is distinguished from other Wood-Warblers by its drab appearance. They are most similar to the Tennessee Warbler, Leiothlypis peregrina (dark eye line, lack streaking on the underparts), the Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia (bright yellow underparts, large dark eyes, no dark eye line), and Wilson’s Warbler, Cardellina pusilla (bright yellow underparts, large dark eyes, no dark eye line).

From a conservation perspective the Orange-crowned Warbler is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Their long-term viability is being threatened by habitat loss by human development which includes logging and cattle grazing within their breeding ranges.