Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

The male Blackburnian warbler is one handsome fellow – the bold black and white and cream of his body are set off against the canary yellow, marigold, and pumpkin of his face and throat.

Flashy though it may be, you’re likely to miss this dazzling wood warbler in northeastern forests of North America, where it breeds. It forages in the upper canopy of conifers and some deciduous trees, making it challenging for us ground-dwellers to see. One of the things I find most fascinating about the Blackburnian warbler has to do with this foraging niche preference. The species is part of a group of wood warblers that are “so similar structurally that early students of bird foraging and niche partitioning wondered how they coexisted” (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology). Research revealed that these similar warbler species separate themselves by foraging areas, thereby reducing competition and conflict. The Blackburnian warbler has evolved to exploit the treetop niche, whereas the other species forage in the mid-canopy or below.

During the breeding season in North America, the Blackburnian warbler fills up on butterfly and moth larvae, and supplements those meals with spiders and small beetles. During the winter, non-breeding months, the birds will also consume berries. They spend those winters in southern Central America and northern South America, mostly in montane habitats along the northern spine of the Andes.

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.