The Worm-eating Warbler is a small and relatively plainly-plumaged New World species of warbler. They are migratory; they breed in southeastern parts of North America and spend the winter in the Caribbean and parts of Central America.
Worm-eating Warblers are ground-nesters, building a cozy nest of leaves and moss in a safe place on the forest floor. Despite their name, they rarely eat worms and don't usually even forage for food on the ground. They eat small insects including spiders and caterpillars.
The population trend for the Worm-eating Warbler is increasing and their conservation status as of June 2013 is Least Concern.
The Worm-eating Warbler is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Several warblers are named for their beautiful plumage, like the Black-throated Blue Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, and Chestnut-sided Warbler. But many warblers are named for other traits, including habitat types and physical locations, which may or may not be accurate. Others are named for the naturalists... Read more »
We're eleven birds into our 2013 Birdorable Bonanza! Today a lovely lurking warbler joins the family. Today's Bonanza bird is the Worm-eating Warbler. Worm-eating Warblers don't eat too many worms. They are known to lurk near the forest floor, but they forage... Read more »
