If you want a unique challenge, venture into the Cascades and attempt to find and listen to the brilliant Nashville Warbler [Leiothlypis ruficapilla].

Nashville Warblers are so called because the first one was discovered along the Cumberland River at Nashville, Tennessee, by Alexander Wilson in 1811, during this warbler’s migration. Although they do not nest in Tennessee, the name has remained.

Nashville Warblers are one of the few warblers that nest on the ground, building a cup with grasses, leaves, animal hairs, and occasionally porcupine quills. Four or five white eggs, speckled with brown are laid in late spring and incubated for 11-12 days. The chicks are fed for 9-11 days before they fledge. They are very active birds that feed on insects (flies, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, caterpillars, beetles, and spruce budworms), in bushes and among ground leaves. Most breeding populations in the west inhabit forests at elevations of between 3,000 and 5,400 feet.

When warblers group together they are referred to as a “confusion,” a “fall,” a “bouquet,” or a “wrench” of warblers.

For more Nashville Warbler images visit http://abirdsingsbecauseithasa

song.com/recent-journeys.