The main direct threat towards the golden-cheeked warbler is the rapid loss of habitats. Their specific habitat needs place warblers at an extremely vulnerable position where urban development has taken a significant amount of the available habitat away. Over-browsing by white-tailed deer, goats, and other ungulates are also believed to be a source of habitat destruction, as they decrease the survival rate of seedling oaks and other deciduous trees, which are a key habitat for warblers. Furthermore, the brown-headed cowbird (which is a brood parasite that lays eggs in other nests, then abandons the nest) and its impact on the golden-cheeked warbler population is still being studied. As a result, the survivability of the young golden-cheeked warbler is significantly reduced.


The golden-cheeked warbler breeds in the juniper-oak woodlands. The bird starts to build its nest about 16–23 feet in the air around the end of March out of ashe juniper bark. The male warbler will use song and physical abuse against other males to establish a territory in close proximity to the previous year's territory. Warblers will stay with only one mate for the entirety of the breeding season. The female will produce 3-4 white eggs that are covered with brown and purple dots that will hatch 10–12 days later. The hatchlings grow rapidly and will leave the nest after 9–12 days. The family will stay together in their territory for up to a month, after which the hatchlings will become independent.


Susan Wittig Albert uses the golden-cheeked warbler as a plot device in her 1992 novel, Thyme of Death.


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The hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina) is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America and across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies. Hooded warblers are very rare vagrants to western Europe.
Recent genetic research has suggested that the type species of Wilsonia (hooded warbler W. citrina) and of Setophaga (American redstart S. ruticilla) are closely related and should be merged into the same genus. As the name Setophaga (published in 1827) takes priority over Wilsonia (published in 1838), hooded warbler would then be transferred as Setophaga citrina. This change has been accepted by the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union, and the IOC World Bird List. The South American Classification Committee continues to list the bird in the genus Wilsonia.


The French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon described the hooded warbler in 1779 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Louisiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text.  Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Muscicapa citrina in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées.
The hooded warbler was formerly placed in the genus Wilsonia. A molecular phylogenetic study of the family Parulidae published in 2010 found that the hooded warbler was embedded in a clade that contained species then assigned to Dendroica as well as two of four species of Parula and the monotypic genera Catharopeza and Setophaga. To create a monophyletic genus, all members of the clade were placed in the expanded genus Setophaga, which under the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, had priority. The genus Setophaga had been introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827.
The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised. The genus name Setophaga is from Ancient Greek ses, "moth", and phagos, "eating", and the specific  citrina is Latin for citrine.


The hooded warbler is a small bird and mid-sized warbler, measuring 13 cm (5.1 in) in length and weighing 9–12 g (0.32–0.42 oz). The hooded warbler has a wingspan of 6.9 in (17.5 cm). It has a plain olive/green-brown back, and yellow underparts. Their outer rectrices have whitish vanes. Males have distinctive black hoods which surround their yellow faces; the female has an olive-green cap which does not extend to the forehead, ears and throat instead. Males attain their hood at about 9–12 months of age; younger birds are essentially identical to (and easily confused with) females. The song is a series of musical notes which sound like: wheeta wheeta whee-tee-oh, for which a common mnemonic is "The red, the red T-shirt" or "Come to the woods or you won't see me". The call of these birds is a loud chip.


These birds feed on insects, which are often found in low vegetation or caught by flycatching. Hooded warblers' breeding habitats are broadleaved woodlands with dense undergrowth. These birds nest in low areas of a bush, laying three to five eggs in a cup-shaped nest. Hooded warblers are often the victims of brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird, especially where the hooded warblers' forest habitats are fragmented. In areas with protected woodlands or recovering wooded habitat, the hooded warbler population is stable and possibly increasing.


The yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata) is a regular North American bird species that can be commonly observed all across the continent. Its extensive distribution range connects both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S. as well as Canada and Central America, with the population concentrating in the continent's northern parts during the breeding season and migrating southwards to southern North and Central America in Winter. The species generally prefers coniferous forests or mixed coniferous-deciduous forests as its breeding habitat, while during the winter it can be found inhabiting more open areas such as shrublands that offer food resources. The diet of the yellow-rumped warbler is based primarily on insects, though the species does eat fruits such as juniper berries as well, especially in winter.
The species combines four closely related forms: the eastern myrtle warbler (spp. coronata); its western counterpart, Audubon's warbler (spp. group auduboni); the northwest Mexican black-fronted warbler (spp. nigrifrons); and the Guatemalan Goldman's warbler (spp. goldmani). All subspecies groups of the yellow-rumped warbler are characterized by the yellow rump as its name implies, while intra-group and inter-group variations in appearance exist in spite of many similarities. The myrtle and Audubon's groups, as two major subspecies, are distinguished by noticeable features such as different color of throat, etc.


Since 1973, the American Ornithologists' Union has elected to merge these passerine birds as one species. A 2017 proposal to split the yellow-rumped warbler into separate species failed. In contrast, the International IOC World Bird List v. 10.2 classifies the myrtle, Audubon's, and Goldman's as separate species (Setophaga coronata, Setophaga auduboni, and Setophaga goldmani, respectively), and the black-fronted warbler as a subspecies of S. auduboni. Proper taxonomic treatments remain a matter of debate.
The myrtle form was apparently separated from the others by glaciation during the Pleistocene, and the Audubon's form may have originated more recently through hybridization between the myrtle warbler and the Mexican nigrifrons form.


The yellow-rumped warbler breeds from eastern North America west to the Pacific, and southward from there into Western Mexico. "Goldman's" yellow-rumped warbler is a non-migratory endemic within the highlands of Guatemala and the black-fronted warbler is also a non-migratory Mexican endemic. The myrtle and Audubon's forms are migratory, traveling to the southern U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean for winters.
The breeding area of the myrtle warbler group ranges from eastern Alaska all the way across Canada towards Newfoundland, and to the south, from Alberta in Canada towards the New England region of the U.S., also including the northern Great Lakes region. As a migratory form of the yellow-rumped warbler, the myrtle warbler group spent the winter in a wide variety of places outside its aforementioned breeding area. On the U.S. West Coast, in winter, the myrtle group ranges from the state of Washington all the way to California; it can also be found in the state of New Mexico, as well as the region extending from southern Nebraska towards the Gulf of Mexico. On the U.S. East Coast, the myrtle group most commonly winters along the Atlantic Coast north to Massachusetts, but can also be found in other places such as Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, etc., though the exact population tend to vary on an annual basis. Part of the myrtle group may also choose to spend the winter further to the south of the U.S., in many areas of Mexico and Central America, including the Bahamas, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
The Audubon's warbler group's breeding area concurs with many mountain terrains, which ranges from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada towards Baja California in Mexico, as well as certain parts of many states in the U.S., including Arizona, Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, etc.; some other isolated subspecies belonging to this group can be found in northwest Mexico and in Central America, Guatemala in particular. Among warblers, the Audubon's is by far the most widespread in North America in winter, and in the northern and central parts of the continent, it is among the last to leave in the fall and among the first to return and is an occasional vagrant to the British Isles and Iceland. Similar to the myrtle group, the Audubon's is a migratory group as well. Studies have shown that its northern subspecies spends the winter in the area along the Pacific Coast of the North American continent, ranging from British Columbia and Vancouver Island in Canada to several southwest states of the U.S., including California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and New Mexico, etc. Some parts of the Audubon's group may also spend their winter further to the south of the U.S., too, in Mexico and several other Caribbean states, including Guatemala and Honduras.


During the breeding season, the yellow-rumped warbler is generally known to be residing in either exclusively coniferous areas across the North American continent, or mixed coniferous-deciduous habitats where coniferous forests merge with trees like aspen (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.), etc. Many of its habitats in the western U.S. tend to be mountainous, but it can also inhabit places at the sea level as long as there are conifers present—which is the case of its habitats in the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast of the United States. Studies indicate that the yellow-rumped warbler is generally adaptive to changes in its breeding habitat's tree density (usually as a result of selective logging), as its population densities are found to remain largely unaffected in areas where the logging regime leads to decreasing densities of trees; the yellow-rumped warbler is believed to be capable of maintaining its breeding density in habitats as long as there still exists some mature trees, which may be used for nesting. The nest of the Audubon's warbler group is known to have the shape of a deep cup: its frame is built out of twigs, barks, and fiber, etc.; the surrounding rim of the "cup" is woven by softer materials such as grass, hair, and feather, etc., structured in a way to conceal the eggs from predator when parent warblers are absent from the nest.


During the winter, when the yellow-rumped warbler is not in breeding season, it often inhabit resourceful open areas with shrubs or scattered the trees, that can provide it with some source of food supply, such as bayberries and insects, etc. Open areas preferred by the yellow-rumped warbler may include agricultural and residential areas, secondary forests, and shrublands, etc., these habitats generally do not have very dense vegetation; the species can also inhabit forests that are relatively open, such as mangroves, pine forests, and even coffee plantations, etc. The yellow-rumped warbler tends to have more diversified habitats during the migration process, though it is sometimes found in desert areas of the U.S. southwest, it is more common for the species to inhabit alpine habitats during migration as it tends to arid lowland areas.


The yellow-rumped warbler has an average length of 14 cm and weight of 12.5 g, its appearance is known to be different across its subspecies groups, especially the two major ones: the coronata group (myrtle warbler) and the auduboni group (Audubon's warbler); intra-group variations are also observed. In spite of varying appearances, the yellow rump (as suggested by its name) is present in all subspecies and thus characterizes the yellow-rumped warbler. Within the myrtle warbler group, adult males during the breeding season have gray backs with dark streaks, while females have brown backs in contrast; male and female myrtle warblers can also be distinguished by their different cheek colors, with the former's being black and the latter having brown or gray cheeks. The Audubon's subspecies group is not very dissimilar to the myrtle: in summers, males of both forms have streaked backs of black on slate blue, white wing patches, a streaked breast, and conspicuous yellow patches on the crown, flank, and rump (the latter giving rise to the species's nickname "butter butt" among birdwatchers). Yet the color of the coronata and auduboni groups' throat patches differs and distinguishes them, as the Audubon's warbler sports a yellow throat patch while the myrtle warbler has a white throat and eye stripe, and a contrasting black cheek patch. Females of both forms are more dull, with brown streaking front and back, but still have noticeable yellow rumps. Goldman's warbler, found in Guatemala, resembles Audubon's but has a white lower border to the yellow throat and otherwise darker plumage; males replace the slate blue of Audubon's with black.
Comprising most of the species of the New World warbler family, among the genus Setophaga (formerly Dendroica), the yellow-rumped warbler is a mid-to-large sized species. The total length of the species can range from 12 to 15 cm (4.7 to 5.9 in) long, with a wingspan of 19 to 24 cm (7.5 to 9.4 in). Although the length is only slightly greater than other Setophaga warblers, it can be mildly to significantly heavier than most other North American species, although blackpoll warblers are slightly larger still. Body mass can vary from 9.9 to 17.7 g (0.35 to 0.62 oz), though averages between 11 and 14 g (0.39 and 0.49 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 6.3 to 8.4 cm (2.5 to 3.3 in), the tail is 5 to 6.6 cm (2.0 to 2.6 in), the bill is 0.8 to 1.1 cm (0.31 to 0.43 in) and the tarsus is 1.8 to 2.2 cm (0.71 to 0.87 in).


Audubon's and the myrtle are among North America's most abundant neotropical migrants. They are primarily insectivorous. The species is perhaps the most versatile foragers of all warblers. Beyond gleaning from leaves like other New World warblers, they often flit, flycatcher-like, out from their perches in short loops, to catch flying insects. Other places yellow-rumped warblers have been spotted foraging include picking at insects on washed-up seaweed at the beach, skimming insects from the surface of rivers and the ocean, picking them out of spiderwebs, and grabbing them off piles of manure. Common foods include caterpillars and other larvae, leaf beetles, bark beetles, weevils, ants, scale insects, aphids, grasshoppers, caddisflies, craneflies, and gnats, as well as spiders. They also eat spruce budworm, a serious forest pest, during outbreaks.
When bugs are scarce, the myrtle warbler also eats fruit, including the wax-myrtle berries which gave it its name. It is the only warbler able to digest such waxy material. The ability to use these fruits allows it to winter farther north than other warblers, sometimes as far north as Newfoundland. Other commonly eaten fruits may include juniper berries, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper and dogwood. They eat wild seeds such as from beach grasses and goldenrod, and they may come to feeders, where they'll take sunflower seeds, raisins, peanut butter, and suet. On their wintering grounds in Mexico they've been seen sipping the sweet honeydew liquid excreted by aphids. Male yellow-rumped warblers tend to forage higher in the trees than females do. While foraging with other warbler species, they sometimes aggressively displace other species, including pine warblers and Blackburnian warblers.


The yellow-rumped warbler's migratory behaviors vary greatly across different groups and subspecies. Some individuals in Central America, such as in Mexico and Guatemala, migrate only limitedly or do not migrate at all; while individuals in the northern parts of the continent may either choose to migrate all the way towards Central America or winter near their breeding area along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. The species's migratory behaviors are generally nocturnal, as individuals tend to travel at night; accordingly, during the yellow-rumped warbler's migration in spring, it often relies on skylight polarization as a way to navigate and orient at dusk. The general direction of its migratory route maintains southwards during winter, as more individuals are present in Central America and southern parts of North America during the season, while less are observed in the north. Every year, fall migration usually takes place from September to November, spring migration from April to May, and the species known to depart from its winter habitats from March to April. Research shows that before migration, the yellow-rumped warbler intentionally gains weight and accrues more fat in its body: as a preparation for this energy-intensive activity, it consumes more food than other times for the purpose of increasing net energy intake from feeding, along with a refined diet that gives priority to food that supplies more energy.


Audubon's and the myrtle nest in coniferous and mixed woodlands, and lay 4–5 eggs. Females build the nest, sometimes using material the male carries to her. The nest is a cup of twigs, pine needles, grasses, and rootlets. She may also use moose, horse, and deer hair, moss, and lichens. She lines this cup with fine hair and feathers, sometimes woven into the nest in such a way that they curl up and over the eggs. The nest takes about 10 days to build. Nests are located on the horizontal branch of a conifer, anywhere from 1.2 to 15 m (3.9 to 49.2 ft) high. Tree species include hemlock, spruce, white cedar, pine, Douglas-fir, and larch or tamarack. They may build their nests far out on a main branch or tuck it close to the trunk in a secure fork of two or more branches. Occasionally nest are built in a deciduous tree such as a maple, oak or birch. The eggs are incubated for 12 to 13 days. Nestlings are helpless and naked at hatching but grow quickly. The young are brooded for 10 to 14 days, at which point they can fledge.
The yellow-rumped warbler has a trill-like song of 4–7 syllables (tyew-tyew-tyew-tyew, tew-tew-tew) and an occasional check or chip call note.


The prairie warbler (Setophaga discolor) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.


These birds have yellow underparts with dark streaks on the flanks, and olive overparts with rusty streaks on the back; they have a yellow line above the eye, a dark line through it, and a yellow spot below it. These birds have black legs, long tails, two pale wing bars, and thin pointed bills. Coloring is duller in female and immatures.


Prairie warblers have two categories of songs, referred to as Type A and Type B. Type A songs are typically a series of ascending buzzy notes. The B songs are an ascending series of whistled notes that often contain some buzzy notes. Compared to A songs, the B songs are lower in pitch, have fewer, longer notes. The total song length is longer as well in Type B songs. The use of these two song categories is associated with certain contexts. A songs are sung throughout the day when males first arrive on their breeding grounds. Once males are paired they begin to sing B songs during the dawn chorus and then will intersperse A songs in their singing during the rest of the day. During this later period of singing A songs are typically used near females, near the nest, and in the center of their territories. In contrast B songs are used when interacting or fighting with other males and near the borders of their territories.
Part of their call note repertoire is a tsip call. During dawn, chorus B songs are interspersed with rapid loud "check" calls.


These birds are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range. Other birds migrate to north-eastern Mexico and islands in the Caribbean.


Their breeding habitats are brushy areas and forest edges in eastern North America. The prairie warbler's nests are open cups, which are usually placed in a low area of a tree or shrub. Incubation period is 12 to 13 days.


The black-throated gray warbler or black-throated grey warbler (Setophaga nigrescens) is a passerine bird of the New World warbler family Parulidae. It is 13 cm (5.1 in) long and has gray and white plumage with black markings. The male has the bold black throat of its name, and black stripes on its head, as well as black streaks on its flanks; the female is a paler version of the male, with a white throat and less distinct black markings on the flanks and wings. It breeds in western North America from British Columbia to New Mexico, and winters in Mexico and the southwestern United States. The habitats it prefers are coniferous and mixed forests and scrubland, especially those with pinyon pines, junipers, sagebrush, and oaks. Its nest is an open cup of plant fibers lined with feathers, built a few metres from the ground in the branches of a tree or shrub. Three to five eggs are laid, and young are fed by both parents. Common in its breeding range, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.


The black-throated gray warbler was first described by John Kirk Townsend from a specimen collected near today's Portland, Oregon. It was known to the Chinook inhabitants of the northwest coast, who called it Ah Kah a qual. Townsend described the species as Sylvia nigrescens, placing it with the other New World warblers and the unrelated Old World warblers in the genus Sylvia. It is now placed in the genus Setophaga along with about thirty other species, after having been classified in Dendroica for some time. Within its genus, it is part of a group with black throats and yellow face markings that includes the hermit warbler and Townsend's warbler. It is usually considered an early offshoot among this group of species, but genetic studies suggest a close relation to Grace's warbler.
Of these relatives, the range of the black-throated gray warbler overlaps with those of Townsend's warbler and the hermit warbler, but they occur in different habitats. While Townsend's and hermit warblers commonly hybridize with each other, records of either species hybridizing with the black-throated gray warbler are uncommon.
There are two subspecies, which are highly similar and of dubious validity. The nominate subspecies S. n. nigrescens occurs on the Pacific coastal region from British Columbia to northern California, while S. n. halseii, described by Giraud in 1841, occupies the inland parts of its range. S. n. halseii birds are slightly larger and more gray in their upperparts.


The black-throated gray warbler has mostly black, gray, and white plumage, which is soft, lacking gloss. With its striping and the small yellow spot between its eye and bill, it is a distinctive bird. The sexes differ slightly, both having gray upperparts with black streaks, and white underparts with black streaks on the flanks. The adult male is striped with black on the crown, throat, and below the eye, and has white around its chin and above its eye. The adult female has more dingy plumage on its head, with a white throat and dark gray cheeks. The most similar birds to the black-throated gray warbler are the black-and-white and blackpoll warblers, which although marked in black have entirely different plumage patterns.
It is typically 13 cm (5.1 in) long, weighing 8.4 g (0.30 oz). Wing lengths are 5.6–6.9 cm (2.2–2.7 in), tail lengths 4.7–5.5 cm (1.9–2.2 in), bill lengths 8.4–9.6 mm (0.33–0.38 in), and tarsus lengths 1.66–1.88 cm (0.65–0.74 in), with females slightly smaller than males. Wingspan ranges from 7.5-7.8 in (19-19.7 cm).
This bird gives a sharp tup or thick call, like that of Townsend's warbler but flat and unmusical, as well as a high see flight call. The male's song is a series of buzzy notes, with the earlier notes doubled and the next to last note high. This song has three variations, including a quiet "soft song" given by the males while following females gathering material for a nest.


The black-throated gray warbler breeds in western North America, its range extending from southwestern British Columbia along the Pacific coast to northern Baja California, and east to New Mexico and southern Montana. It winters mostly in Mexico, from southern Baja California to Oaxaca state. It has spread into parts of Wyoming and Montana only recently, as Juniperus osteosperma has expanded its range due to a warming climate. Vagrants have been recorded across eastern North America and in Cuba.
The black-throated gray warbler breeds in open coniferous and mixed forest with a brushy understory, in dry open oak forests, and in chaparral and other scrubland. It is particularly associated with pinyon pines, junipers, and oaks. It migrates to the south late in the fall, returning north in mid-spring. While migrating, it forages in any woodland or scrub it passes through. In its wintering grounds, it occurs in dry woodland and tall scrub. Though its status is not well known, it does not appear to be seriously threatened by habitat destruction or other human activities, unlike many migratory warblers. It is a fairly common bird, among the most common in some localities. Because it is common and not in rapid decline, it is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.


The black-throated gray warbler is usually approachable, and can easily be observed while foraging. Despite this, it is poorly known, especially in its breeding behavior, of which Birds of North America said "almost no information is available". It forages, often in flocks with other species. It feeds on insects gleaned on low branches, especially caterpillars.
The nest is usually placed on a horizontal tree branch or in a shrub, a few metres above the ground. The nest is an open cup constructed of grass stalks and other fibres, and lined with feathers and hair. The female lays three to five pinkish eggs with brown dots from May to July. Incubation and fledging periods are unknown. This species has been recorded giving a distraction display, pretending to be injured to distract predators from its nest. Both parents feed the young, though the female may do so more frequently.


The yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia) is a New World warbler species. Yellow warblers are the most widespread species in the diverse genus Setophaga, breeding in almost the whole of North America, the Caribbean, and down to northern South America.


The genus name Setophaga is from Ancient Greek ses, "moth", and phagos, "eating", and the specific petechia is from Italian petecchia, a small red spot on the skin.  The American yellow warbler is sometimes colloquially called the "summer yellowbird".


Other than in male breeding plumage and body size, all warbler subspecies are very similar. Winter, female and immature birds all have similarly greenish-yellow uppersides and are a duller yellow below. Young males soon acquire breast and, where appropriate, head coloration. Females are somewhat duller, most notably on the head. In all, the remiges and rectrices are blackish olive with yellow edges, sometimes appearing as an indistinct wing-band on the former. The eyes and the short thin beak are dark, while the feet are lighter or darker olive-buff.
The 35 subspecies of S. petechia can be divided into three main groups according to the males' head color in the breeding season. Each of these groups is sometimes considered a separate species, or the aestiva group (yellow warbler) is considered a species different from S. petechia (mangrove warbler, including golden warbler); the latter option is the one currently accepted by the International Ornithological Congress World Bird List.
Depending on subspecies, the yellow warbler may be between 10 and 18 cm (3.9 and 7.1 in) long, with a wingspan from 16 to 22 cm (6.3 to 8.7 in). They weigh 7–25 g (0.25–0.88 oz), varying between subspecies and whether on migration or not, globally averaging about 16 g (0.56 oz) but only 9–10 g (0.32–0.35 oz) in most breeding adults of the United States populations. Among standard measurements throughout the subspecies, the wing chord is 5.5 to 7 cm (2.2 to 2.8 in), the tail is 3.9 to 5.6 cm (1.5 to 2.2 in), the bill is 0.8 to 1.3 cm (0.31 to 0.51 in) and the tarsus is 1.7 to 2.2 cm (0.67 to 0.87 in). The summer males of this species are generally the yellowest warblers wherever they occur. They are brilliant yellow below and greenish-golden above. There are usually a few wide, somewhat washed-out rusty-red streaks on the breast and flanks. These markings are the reason for the scientific name petechia, which roughly translates to "liver spotted". The subspecies in this group mostly vary in brightness and size according to Bergmann's and Gloger's Rule.
The golden warbler (petechia group; 17 subspecies) is generally resident in the mangrove swamps of the West Indies. Local seasonal migrations may occur. On the Cayman Islands for example, S. p. eoa was found to be "decidedly scarce" on Grand Cayman and apparently absent from Cayman Brac in November 1979, while it had been a "very common" breeder in the group some 10 years before, and not frequently seen in the winters of 1972/1973; apparently, the birds disperse elsewhere outside the breeding season. The Cuban golden warbler (S. p. gundlachi) barely reached the Florida Keys where it was first noted in 1941, and by the mid-20th century a breeding population was resident. Though individual birds may stray farther north, their distribution is restricted by the absence of mangrove habitat.
They are generally smallish, usually weighing about 10 g (0.35 oz) or less and sometimes as little as 6.5 g (0.23 oz). The summer males differs from those of the yellow warbler in that they have a rufous crown, hood or mask. The races in this group vary in the extent and hue of the head patch.
The mangrove warbler (erithachorides group; 12 subspecies) tends to be larger than other yellow warbler subspecies groups, averaging 12.5 cm (4.9 in) in length and 11 g (0.39 oz) in weight. It is resident in the mangrove swamps of coastal Middle America and northern South America; S. p. aureola is found on the oceanic Galápagos Islands. The summer males differ from those of the yellow warbler in having a rufous hood or crown. The races in this group vary in the extent and hue of the hood, overlapping extensively with the golden warbler group in this character.
The American yellow warbler (aestiva group; 6 subspecies) breeds in the whole of temperate North America as far south as central Mexico in open, often wet, woods or shrub. It is migratory, wintering in Central and South America. They are very rare vagrants to western Europe.


American yellow warblers breed in most of North America from the tundra southwards, except for the far Southwest and the Gulf of Mexico coast. American yellow warblers winter to the south of their breeding range, from southern California to the Amazon region, Bolivia and Peru. The mangrove and golden warblers occur to the south of it, to the northern reaches of the Andes.
American Yellow Warblers arrive in their breeding range in late spring – generally about April/May – and move to winter quarters again starting as early as July, as soon as the young are fledged. Most, however, stay a bit longer; by the end of August, the bulk of the northern populations has moved south, though some may linger almost until fall. At least in northern Ohio, yellow warblers do not linger, leaving as they did 100 years ago.
The breeding habitat of American yellow warblers is typically riparian or otherwise moist land with ample growth of small trees, in particular willows (Salix). The other groups, as well as wintering birds, chiefly inhabit mangrove swamps and similar dense woody growth. Less preferred habitat are shrubland, farmlands and forest edges. In particular American yellow warblers will come to suburban or less densely settled areas, orchards and parks, and may well breed there. Outside the breeding season, these warblers are usually encountered in small groups, but while breeding they are fiercely territorial and will try to chase away any conspecific intruder that comes along.
Roughy 60% of their diet is caterpillars.  They also consume mayflies, moths, mosquitoes, beetles, damselflies, treehoppers, and other insects. They acquire prey by gleaning in shrubs and on tree branches, and by hawking prey that tries to fly away. Other invertebrates and some berries and similar small juicy fruits are also eaten, the latter especially by American yellow warblers in their winter quarters. The yellow warbler is one of several insectivorous bird species that reduce the number of coffee berry borer beetles in Costa Rica coffee plantations by 50%. Caterpillars are the staple food for nestlings, with some – e.g. those of geometer moths (Geometridae) – preferred over others.
The predators of yellow and mangrove warblers are those typical of such smallish tree-nesting passerines, such as snakes, foxes, birds of prey, and many others. The odds of an adult American yellow warbler to survive from one year to the next are on average 50%; in the southern populations, by contrast, about two-thirds of the adults survive each year. Conversely, less than one American yellow warbler nest in three on average suffers from predation in one way or another, while two out of three mangrove and golden warbler nests are affected.
Snakes, including the blue racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) and common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), are significant nest predators, taking nestlings and fledglings as well as sick or distracted adults. Likewise, corvids such as the American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), and large climbing rodents, notably the American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) also attack nests in this manner. Carnivores (in particular members of the Musteloidea) including the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), long-tailed weasel (Neogale frenata),  common raccoon (Procyon lotor), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), and domestic or feral cats, are similarly opportunistic predators. All these pose little threat to the nimble, non-nesting adults, which are taken by certain smallish and agile birds such as the American kestrel (Falco sparverius) and Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii), and the sharp-shinned hawk (A. striatus). Other avian predators of adults have included peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) and merlins (F. columbarius). Owls such as great horned owls (Bubo virginianus) and eastern screech owls (Megascops asio) have been known to assault yellow warblers of all ages at night.
These New World warblers seem to mob predators only rarely. An exception are cowbirds, which are significant brood parasites. The yellow warbler is a regular host of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), with about 40% of all nests suffering attempted or successful parasitism. By contrast, the tropical populations are less frequent hosts to the shiny cowbird (M. bonariensis), with only 10% of nests affected. This may be due to the slightly larger size of shiny cowbirds, which are less likely to survive being feed by the much smaller warbler, compared to brown-headed cowbirds. The yellow warbler is one of the few passerine proven to be able to recognize the presence of cowbird eggs in its nest. Upon recognizing one the warbler will often smother it with a new layer of nesting material. It will usually not try to save any of its own eggs that have already been laid, but produce a replacement clutch. Sometimes, the parents desert a parasitized nest altogether and build a new one. Unlike some cuckoos, cowbird nestlings will not actively kill the nestlings of the host bird; mixed broods of Setophaga and Molothrus may fledge successfully. However, success of fledging in yellow warbler nests is usually decreased by the parasitism of cowbirds due to the pressures of raising a much larger bird.
Other than predation, causes of mortality are not well known. The maximum recorded ages of wild yellow warblers are around 10 years. A wintering American yellow warbler examined near Turbo, Colombia was not infected with blood parasites, unlike other species in the study. It is unclear whether this significant, but wintering birds in that region generally lacked such parasites.


As usual for members of the Parulidae, yellow warblers nest in trees, building a small but very sturdy cup nest. Females and males rear the young about equally, but emphasize different tasks: females are more involved with building and maintaining the nest, and incubating and brooding the offspring. Males are more involved in guarding the nest site and procuring food, bringing it to the nest and passing it to the waiting mother, which does most of the actual feeding. As the young approach fledging, the male's workload becomes proportionally higher.
The American yellow and mangrove (including golden) warblers differ in some other reproductive parameters. While the former is somewhat more of an r-strategist, the actual differences are complex and adapted to different environmental conditions. The yellow warbler starts breeding in May/June, while the mangrove warbler breeds all year round. American yellow warblers have been known to raise a brood of young in as little as 45 days, with 75 the norm. Tropical populations, by contrast, need more than 100 days per breeding. Males court the females with songs, singing 3,200 or more per day. They are, like most songbirds, generally serially monogamous; some 10% of mangrove warbler and about half as many American yellow warbler males are bigamous. Very few if any American yellow warblers breed more than once per year, with just 5% of female mangrove warblers doing so. If a breeding attempt fails, either parent will usually try to raise a second brood.
The clutch of the American yellow warbler is 3–6 (typically 4–5, rarely 1–2) eggs. Incubation usually takes 11 days, sometimes up to 14. The nestlings weigh 1.3 g (0.046 oz) on average, are brooded for an average 8–9 days after hatching, and leave the nest the following day or the one thereafter. The mangrove warbler, on the other hand, has only 3 eggs per clutch on average and incubates some 2 days longer. Its average post-hatching brooding time is 11 days. Almost half of the parents (moreso in the mangrove warbler than the American yellow warbler) attend the fledglings for two weeks or more after these leave the nest. Sometimes the adults separate early, each accompanied by one to three of the young.
Some 3–4 weeks after hatching, the young are fully independent of their parents. They become sexually mature at one year of age, and attempt to breed right away. Some 55% of all American yellow warbler nestings are successful in raising at least one young. In contrast, only 25% of mangrove warbler nests successfully fledge any offspring, with accidents and predation frequently causing total loss of the clutch.


Yellow warblers, in particular the young, devour many pest insects during the breeding season. The plumage and song of the breeding males have been described as "lovely" and "musical", encouraging ecotourism. No significant negative effects of American yellow and mangrove warblers on humans have been recorded.
Being generally common and occurring over a wide range, the yellow warbler is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. Some local decline in numbers has been found in areas, mainly due to habitat destruction and pollution.  The chief causes are land clearance, the agricultural overuse of and herbicide and pesticide, and sometimes overgrazing. However, stocks will usually rebound quickly if riparian habitat is allowed to recover, particularly among the prolific American yellow warbler.
The North American populations are legally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Barbados golden warbler (D. p. petechia) has been listed as "endangered foreign wildlife" by the United States' Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 1970; other than for specially permitted scientific, educational or conservation purposes, importing it into the USA is illegal. The Californian yellow warbler (D. p./a. brewsteri) and Sonoran yellow warbler (D.p./a. sonorana) are listed as "species of concern" by the ESA.


BirdLife International (2020). "Setophaga petechia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22721657A137268484. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 299, 355. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Grant, John Beveridge (1891). Our Common Birds and How to Know Them. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 112. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
Bachynski & Kadlec (2003)
Curson et al. (1994)
IOC World Bird List Family Parulidae
Yezerinac, S. M., & Weatherhead, P. J. (1997). Extra–pair mating, male plumage coloration and sexual selection in yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 264(1381), 527-532.
Bachynski & Kadlec (2003), AnAge (2009)
Cunningham (1966)
Olson et al. (1981)
Henninger (1906), Bachynski & Kadlec (2003), OOS (2004)
"Yellow Warbler". Audubon.org.
E.g. of Trophis racemosa (Moraceae): Foster (2007)
Bachynski & Kadlec (2003), Foster (2007)
Bachynski & Kadlec (2003), Salgado-Ortiz et al. (2008)
E.g.Bachynski & Kadlec (2003)
E.g. : Bachynski & Kadlec (2003)
Lowther, P. E.; C. Celada; N. K. Klein; C. C. Rimmer & D. A. Spector. "Yellow Warbler- Birds of North America Online". The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
"Average lifespan (wild) 131 months" in Bachynski & Kadlec (2003) is a lapsus
Bachynski & Kadlec (2003), Londono et al. (2007), AnAge [2009]
Bachynski & Kadlec (2003), Salgado-Ortiz et al. (2008), AnAge [2009]
CITES and State of Michigan List listing are lapsus in Bachynski & Kadlec (2003)
As "Barbados yellow warbler", but being the nominate subspecies it belongs to the golden/mangrove warbler group
Bachynski & Kadlec (2003), USFWS (1970, 2009abc)


The American redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is a New World warbler. It is unrelated to the Old World (common) redstart.


The American redstart was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla ruticilla.
The genus name Setophaga is from Ancient Greek ses, "moth", and phagos, "eating", and the specific  ruticilla is  New Latin  for "redstart" from Latin  rutilus, "red", and New Latin cilla, "tail". "Redstart" refers to the male's red tail, "start" being an old word for tail.


The breeding habitats of the redstarts are open woodlands or scrub, often located near water. They nest in the lower part of a bush, laying 2–5 eggs in a neat cup-shaped nest. The clutch is incubated by the female for 10 to 13 days. The young fledge after 9 days in the nest, and may remain with one parent for up to 3 weeks afterwards. First-year males are able to reproduce during their first breeding season, but they retain the female-like plumage which may contribute to low reproductive success (less than 50% of first-year males) until year 2. In contrast, most first-year females successfully reproduce during their first breeding season. There is evidence for a skewed sex ratio that results in a surplus of unmated males.
American redstarts display a mixed mating strategy; they are predominantly monogamous but around 25% of males maintain multiple territories and are polygynous. Even within monogamous pairs, a high proportion of offspring—as many as 40%—are not fathered by the male of the pair. The intensity of the male's coloration (which is due to carotenoid pigments) predicts their success at holding territory in their non-breeding, winter locations in the Caribbean, the probability that they will be polygynous, and the proportion of offspring in their nests that they will themselves father. Males are invariably very territorial and the superior males occupy the best habitats, such as moist mangroves, while inferior males occupy secondary habitats such as dry scrub forests.


The redstarts feed almost exclusively on insects which are usually caught by flycatching. American redstarts also have been known to catch their insect prey by gleaning it from leaves. This is a very active species. The tail is often held partly fanned out. These birds have been observed flashing the orange and yellow of their tails on and off to startle and chase insects from the underbrush. Overall, this species is a very flexible, opportunistic feeder that can easily adapt to varying habitat, season, insect community, vegetation structure, and time of day. The diet consists largely of caterpillars, moths, flies, leafhoppers and planthoppers, small wasps, beetles, aphids, stoneflies and spiders. Few berries and seeds are consumed, but are most often from barberry, serviceberry, and magnolia.


The oldest known banded redstart  lived to over 10 years of age. Other adults have been known to reach around 5 years. However, few survive past the first stages of life, as the bird is vulnerable to both terrestrial and aerial predators. Highest rates of predation occur during the breeding season when eggs and helpless nestlings are abundant and easy prey for varied predators. Females mostly brood during this period and thus often fall prey to nest predators. Common terrestrial predators include red squirrels, fishers, eastern chipmunks, American black bears, flying squirrels, fox snakes, and domestic cats. Aerial predators take nestlings, eggs, or even adults in flight. Aerial predators include jaegers, blue jays, common ravens, northern saw-whet owls, common grackles, northern goshawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and Cooper's hawks.


Successful conservation efforts of the redstart, as for any other migrating bird, include protecting and providing habitat throughout its entire range. The benefits to coffee farms that redstarts and other "coffee birds" provide have encouraged coffee farmers to adapt shade trees and adjacent forest patches in their farming practices as additional habitat for the birds. While shade tree coffee farms offer a somewhat practical compromise between habitat preservation and agriculture, there is still not enough data to back the proposition that practices like shade tree coffee farms can replace the natural habitat that was once there. Still, the most effective method for American redstart conservation would be natural habitat preservation at wintering and breeding grounds.


Shepherdia canadensis, commonly called Canada buffaloberry, russet buffaloberry, soopolallie, soapberry, or foamberry (Ktunaxa: kupaʔtiǂ,) is one of a small number of shrubs of the genus Shepherdia that bears edible berries.


The plant is a deciduous shrub of open woodlands and thickets, growing to a maximum of 1–4 metres (3+1⁄2–13 feet). The fruit is usually red, but one variety has yellow berries. The berries have a bitter taste.
It is a non-legume nitrogen fixer.


The species is widespread in all of Canada, except in Prince Edward Island, and in the western and northern United States, including Alaska and Idaho.


Some Canadian First Nations peoples such as Nlaka'pamux (Thompson), St'at'imc (Lillooet), and Secwepemc (Shuswap) in the Province of British Columbia extensively collect the berries. The bitter berries are not directly consumed but rather processed as "sxusem", also spelled "sxushem" and "xoosum" or "hooshum" ("Indian ice cream"). Collection involves placing a mat or tarpaulin below the bushes, hitting the branches, collecting the very ripe fruits, mixing with other sweet fruit such as raspberries, crushing the mixture, and then beating of the mixture to raise the foam characteristic of the dish.
The berry is both sweet and bitter, and is possibly comparable to the taste of sweetened coffee. The First Nations peoples who prepare a dish with it believe that the berry has many health properties, but the saponin chemicals it contains (which create a foam when whipped into a dessert dish) may cause gastrointestinal irritation if large quantities are consumed. Native-themed restaurants in British Columbia have occasionally offered the berries on their menus.
Unrelated plants in the genus Sapindus produce toxic saponins and are also commonly denominated "soapberry".


The mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) is a small migratory thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and somewhat lighter underneath. Adult females have duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female's throat and breast are tinged with red-orange, brownish near the flank contrasting with white tail underparts. Their call is a thin 'few'; while their song is warbled high 'chur chur'. It is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. It is an omnivore and it can live 6 to 10 years in the wild. It eats spiders, grasshoppers, flies and other insects, and small fruits. The mountain bluebird is a relative of the eastern and western bluebirds.


The mountain bluebird was formally described in 1798 by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein and given the name Motacilla s. Sylvia currucoides. The specific epithet combines curruca, from Carl Linnaeus's binomial name Motacilla curruca for the lesser whitethroat, with the Ancient Greek -oidēs meaning "resembling". The mountain bluebird is now placed with the two other bluebirds in the genus Sialia that was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1827. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.


The mountain bluebird is 15.5–18 cm (6.1–7.1 in) in length, weighs 24–37 g (0.85–1.31 oz), and has a wingspan of 11.0-14.2 in (28-36 cm). It is sexually dimorphic in the color of the plumage but the sexes are similar in size. An adult male is bright turquoise-blue above and somewhat lighter blue underneath but with a white lower belly. An adult female has duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female's throat and breast are brownish near the flank contrasting with white tail underparts. Their call is a thin 'few'; while their song is warbled high 'chur chur'.


Their breeding habitat is open country across western North America, including mountainous areas, as far north as Alaska. Although mountain bluebirds can be found in some states year-round, their range is expansive—they generally migrate south to Mexico in the winter and north into western Canada and even Alaska in the summer. Depending on the time of year, they may be ubiquitous in mountain environments like grasslands or landscapes of sagebrush, where trees and shrubs are fairly spread out.


The male can be seen singing from bare branches. The singing takes place right at dawn, just when the sun rises.
Mountain bluebirds nest in pre-existing cavities or in nest boxes. In remote areas, these birds are less affected by competition for natural nesting locations than other bluebirds. Mountain bluebirds are monogamous. After the couple decides together on an ideal nesting site, the female will typically build their nest themselves out of thin, dry material from the surrounding landscape while the male protects the area, defending against unwelcome visitors. It is true, though, that both males and females fiercely protect the nest. Once the nest is built, the female will lay an egg a day. Eggs are pale blue and unmarked, sometimes white. The clutch size is four or five eggs and she will incubate them for about two weeks. Young are naked and helpless at hatching and may have some down. The young will usually take about 21 days before they leave the nest, and it can take up to two months to raise fledglings to a stage of development at which they are able to fend and provide for themselves.
Mountain bluebirds are cavity nesters and can become very partial to a nest box, especially if they have successfully raised a clutch. They may even reuse the same nest, though not always.  These birds will not abandon a nest if human activity is detected close by or at the nest. Because of this, they can be easily banded while they are still in the nest. The threats of predation for those that dwell in nesting boxes are mostly from house cats, raccoons, and the parasitic blowfly, Apaulina stalia.


During the summer, the diet of Mountain bluebirds predominately consists of insects; while, in the winter months they eat mostly berries (like Juniper berries, Russian-olive berries, elderberry, etc.) and fruit seeds (such as mistletoe seeds and grapes, just to name a few). These birds hover over the ground and fly down to catch insects, also flying from a perch to catch them. The first technique takes up to 8 times the energy of sitting on a perch and waiting. They may forage in flocks in winter, looking for grasshoppers. Mountain Bluebirds will come to a platform feeder with live meal worms, berries, or peanuts.


The mountain bluebird is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. More generally, the bluebird has lived in writers’ and poets’ imaginations as age-old bearers of joy and reverie. The Twitter bird is based on the mountain bluebird.


Mountain bluebirds are fairly common, but populations declined by about 26% between 1966 and 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates the global breeding population of 4.6 million, with 80% spending some part of the year in the U.S., 20% breeding in Canada, and 31% wintering in Mexico. The species rates an 8 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score. Mountain Bluebird is a U.S.-Canada Stewardship species, and is not on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. These bluebirds benefited from the westward spread of logging and grazing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the clearing of forest created open habitat for foraging. The subsequent waning of these industries, coupled with the deliberate suppression of wildfires, led to a dwindling of open acreage in the West and the decline of the species. More recently, as land-use practices have stabilized, so have Mountain Bluebird populations. Construction of nest boxes in suitable habitat has also provided a population boost. Populations are declining in areas where trees are too small to provide natural nesting cavities, and where forest and agricultural management practices have reduced the availability of suitable nest sites. Among birds that nest in cavities but cannot excavate them on their own, competition is high for nest sites. Mountain, Western, and more recently Eastern bluebirds compete for nest boxes where their ranges overlap. House Sparrows, European Starlings, and House Wrens also compete fiercely with bluebirds for nest cavities.


The western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) is a small North American thrush.


The western bluebird  was formally described by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1832 and given the binomial name Sialia mexicana.
Six subspecies are recognised:
S. m. occidentalis Townsend, JK, 1837 – southwest Canada to north Baja California (northwest Mexico)
S. m. bairdi Ridgway, 1894 – interior west USA to Sonora and Chihuahua (northwest Mexico)
S. m. jacoti Phillips, AR, 1991 – south central USA and northeast Mexico
S. m. amabilis Moore, RT, 1939 – northcentral Mexico
S. m. nelsoni Phillips, AR, 1991 – central Mexico
S. m. mexicana Swainson, 1832 – south central Mexico


The western bluebird is a small stocky bird with a length of 15 to 18 cm (5.9 to 7.1 in). The adult male is bright blue on top and on the throat with an orange breast and sides, a brownish patch on back, and a gray belly and undertail coverts. The adult female has a duller blue body, wings, and tail, a gray throat, a dull orange breast, and a gray belly and undertail coverts. Both sexes have a thin straight bill with a fairly short tail. Immature birds have duller colors than the adults, and have spots on their chest and back.
Their calling consists of the mating songs which sound like "cheer," "chur-chur," and "chup." This helps male western bluebirds find the females easily in condensed forest. The males use these calls to tell competing males that the territory belongs to them.
The western bluebird can be readily distinguished from the two other species in the bluebird genus. The western bluebird has a blue (male) or gray (female) throat, the eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) has an orange throat, and the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) lacks orange color anywhere on its body.


The western bluebird has been displaced from its natural habitat by the felling of trees; however it has adapted to coniferous forests, farmlands, semi-open terrain, and desert to survive. The year-round range includes California, the southern Rocky Mountains, Arizona, and New Mexico in the United States, and as far south as the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz in Mexico. The summer breeding range extends as far north as the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, and Montana. Northern birds can migrate to the southern parts of the range; southern birds are often permanent residents.


The western bluebird nests in cavities or in nest boxes, competing with tree swallows, house sparrows, and European starlings for natural nesting locations. Because of the high level of competition, house sparrows often attack western bluebirds for their nests. The attacks are made both in groups or alone. Attacks by starlings can be reduced if the nesting box opening is kept to 1.5 in (38 mm) diameter to avoid takeover. Nest boxes come into effect when the species is limited and dying out due to the following predators: cats, raccoons, possums, and select birds of prey such as the Cooper's hawk. Ants, bees, earwigs, and wasps can crawl into the nesting boxes and damage the newborns. Western bluebirds are among the birds that nest in cavities, or holes in trees, or nest boxes. Their beaks are too weak and small to dig out their own holes, so they rely on woodpeckers to make their nest sites for them.
In restored forests, western bluebirds have a higher probability of successfully fledging young than in untreated forests, but they are at greater risk of parasitic infestations. The effects on post-fledging survival are unknown. They have been found to enjoy more success with nest boxes than in natural cavities. They started egg-laying earlier, had higher nesting success and lower predation rates, and fledged more young in boxes than in cavities, but they did not have larger clutches of eggs. The eggs are commonly two to eight per clutch, with average size 20.8 mm × 16.2 mm (0.82 in × 0.64 in). Eggs are oval in shape with a smooth and glossy shell. They are pale blue to bluish-white and sometimes white in color. Nestlings remain in a nest about 19 to 22 days before fledging. In a good year, the parents can rear two broods, with four to six eggs per clutch. According to genetic studies, 45% of western bluebirds' nests carried young that were not offspring of the male partner. In addition, they help their parents raise a new brood after their own nest fails.


The western bluebird pounces on the ground when looking for food, such as worms and berries. It also flies to catch aerial prey, like insects, when available. The western bluebird consumes water from nearby streams and commonly used bird baths.
These birds wait on a perch and fly down to catch insects, sometimes catching them in midair. They mainly eat insects and berries.


The eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) is a small North American migratory thrush found in open woodlands, farmlands, and orchards.
The bright-blue breeding plumage of the male, easily observed on a wire or open perch, makes this species a favorite of birders. The male's call includes sometimes soft warbles of jeew or chir-wi, or the melodious song chiti WEEW wewidoo.
It is the state bird of Missouri and New York.


The eastern bluebird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla sialis. The type location is South Carolina. Linnaeus based his short Latin description on the earlier more detailed descriptions by the English naturalists Mark Catesby and George Edwards. The eastern bluebird is now placed in the genus Sialia that was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1827 with the eastern bluebird as the type species.
Seven subspecies are recognised:
S. s. sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) – south, southeast Canada, east, central USA and northeast Mexico
S. s. bermudensis Verrill, AH, 1901 – Bermuda
S. s. nidificans Phillips, AR, 1991 – east central Mexico
S. s. fulva Brewster, 1885 – southwest USA to central Mexico
S. s. guatemalae Ridgway, 1882 – southeast Mexico and Guatemala
S. s. meridionalis Dickey & Van Rossem, 1930 – El Salvador, Honduras and north Nicaragua
S. s. caribaea Howell, TR, 1965 – east Honduras and northeast Nicaragua


Eastern bluebirds measure 16–21 cm (6.3–8.3 in) long, span 25–32 cm (9.8–12.6 in) across the wings, and weigh 27–34 g (0.95–1.20 oz).
Male bluebirds have a bright head, back, and wings. Their breast is a brownish red. Females are lighter with gray on the head and back and some blue on their wings and tail. In females, the breast is usually lighter in color than in males, and is more orange.


The eastern bluebird is found east of the Rockies, southern Canada to the Gulf states, and southeastern Arizona to Nicaragua. The increase in trees throughout the Great Plains during the past century due to fire suppression and tree planting facilitated the western range expansion of the species. as well as range expansions of many other species of birds. From 1966-2015 the eastern bluebird experienced a greater than 1.5% annual population increase throughout most of its breeding and year-round ranges, with exceptions including southern Florida and the Ohio River valley.
Bluebirds tend to live in open country around trees, but with little understory and sparse ground cover. Original habitats probably included open, frequently burned pine savannas, beaver ponds, mature but open woods, and forest openings. Today, they are most common along pastures, agricultural fields, suburban parks, backyards, and even golf courses. Populations also occur across eastern North America and south as far as Nicaragua. Birds that live farther north and in the west of the range tend to lay more eggs than eastern and southern birds.
An isolated, insular subspecies of the eastern bluebird is found on Bermuda, and has a distinctive, brighter blue coloration compared to mainland populations. This population was formerly thought to have been predated the colonization of the islands (making it one of only three extant, resident pre-colonization Bermuda landbirds, alongside the Bermuda white-eyed vireo and gray catbird). However, analysis of fossil strata found no evidence for the existence of bluebirds on the islands prior to European colonization. Using simulations and molecular evidence, a 2013 study found that the Bermuda bluebirds likely descend from very small founder population from a single colonization event during the 1600s. This colonization event could either be a natural one by migratory individuals or an anthropogenic introduction by early settlers, who are known to have introduced several other eastern North American birds like the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) to Bermuda very shortly after colonization. It is likely that the alteration to the islands' ecosystem due to the clearing of native forest facilitated this colonization by providing optimal bluebird feeding habitat, along with a lack of predators.


Eastern bluebirds are social, and will sometimes gather in flocks of over a hundred. However, they are territorial during the breeding season and may continue to defend a feeding area throughout the winter.


Mating occurs in the spring and summer. A mature female typically raises two broods each season. Nests are constructed in trees within abandoned woodpecker holes or other cavities that provide adequate protection (usually several feet above ground). Construction of the nest is done primarily by the female and takes around 10 days to complete. These nests are small, cup-like structures lined with grass, feathers, stems, and hairs. Each female lays three to seven light-blue or, rarely, white eggs. The female incubates the eggs, which hatch after 13 to 16 days. The young cannot care for themselves upon hatching. The female broods the chicks for up to seven days after hatching. Fledglings then leave the nest 15 to 20 days after hatching.
Both parents cooperate in raising the young, which they feed a diet consisting almost entirely of insects. Some young stay around the nest to help raise another brood. Fledglings are grayish in color, with speckled breasts. The blue color becomes much more prominent and the speckles on their breasts disappear as they mature. Bluebirds may begin breeding the summer after they are hatched.
Eastern bluebirds can live for 6 to 10 years. The longest recorded lifespan for a bluebird is 10 years and five months. However, most bluebirds die within their first year of life. Starvation and freezing are a danger to the young, but most threats come from other animals, including humans. Natural predators of eggs and nestlings can include eastern chipmunks, flying squirrels, American black bears, fire ants, and raccoons. Bluebirds of all ages (including adults) are threatened by rat snakes, racers, American kestrels, and domestic cats. Introduced species such as European starlings and house sparrows are competitors for nesting sites. Non-nesting adults face predation by all native species of falcons, owls, and most varieties of hawks, particularly those in the genus Accipiter. When approached by a predator, the male makes a song-like warning cry. If no male is present, a threatened female will begin to sing, hoping to attract a protective male back to the territory. Both males and females also flick their wings and warble when predators are nearby.


Eastern Bluebirds thrived in the 1700s and 1800s. This flourishing is thought to be connected with the activity of settlers. Clearing forests made new habitat available for bluebirds and nesting sites were created in the increasing numbers of apple orchards and in wooden fence posts that eventually rotted. It is believed that bluebirds were most abundant around 1900. However, increasing competition with the invasive species of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) along with loss of farmland began to take a toll on bluebird populations. Along with these, pesticides and scarcity of food during winter compounded to cause the number of bluebirds to fall. A definite drop has been shown to have occurred between 1938 and the late 1970s.
Conservation efforts are seen as early as 1934 when Thomas Musselman created the first bluebird trail by setting up rows of bluebird houses along roads. Also in the 1930s, William Duncan created a bluebird house design and educated others about these birds. In 1964, The National Association for Protection and Propagation of the Purple Martin and Bluebirds of America was founded. After it went out of existence, the Nature Society kept up with conservation work. Lawrence Zeleny's 1976 book, The Bluebird: How You Can Help Its Fight For Survival, and a National Geographic article he wrote helped make the plight of these birds well known. In 1978, the North American Bluebird Society was founded.
If the Bermuda population of bluebirds is considered the product of natural colonization, it has also become highly endangered. Early settlers described individual flocks numbering over 50 birds each flying across the islands, but in the present only 500 individuals are thought to remain. The near-extinction of Bermuda cedar (Juniperus bermudiana) forest in the 1940s and 1950s wiped out the majority of natural nesting habitat for bluebirds, leaving it almost completely dependent on artificial nest boxes for breeding. Introduced starlings and house sparrows evict bluebirds from their nests, and introduced great kiskadees (Pitangus sulphuratus) feed on juvenile birds. They are also threatened by feral cats and pesticides.


Sibbaldia procumbens (or creeping sibbaldia) is a species of flowering plant of the genus Sibbaldia in the rose family. It has an Arctic–alpine distribution; it can be found throughout the Arctic, as well as the at higher elevations in the mountains of Eurasia and North America. It grows on tundra and in alpine climates where snow remains year-round, and on subalpine mountain slopes. This is a low, mat-forming perennial herb producing clumps of herbage in rocky, gravelly substrate. A spreading stem up to 15 centimeters long grows from a caudex. Each leaf is divided into usually three leaflets borne at the end of a petiole up to 7 centimeters long. Each wedge-shaped leaflet has three teeth at the tip. The flower has usually five pointed green bractlets, five wider pointed green sepals, and five tiny yellowish petals each about a millimeter long. The fruits develop in the remnants of the sepals on erect stalks.


The plant has an Arctic–alpine distribution.
It is found in the Pyrenees, in places in the Cantabrians and Sierra Nevada of Spain, in the Alps, the Vosges in France, on Corsica, in a few locations in the central Apennines, in the Tatras on the border of Slovakia and Poland, in Bulgaria's Rila and Pirin. In northern Europe, it grows in Scotland, on the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Jan Mayen and Svaalbard, throughout the Scandinavian Mountains, in northern Finland, in the northern Urals, and along the Arctic coastline of European Russia from the Kola peninsula in the west to the Gulf of Ob in the east.
The plant is also found in extensive areas in some of the Central Asian and South Siberian mountains, including Tian Shan, the Tarbagatay, Altai and Sayan ranges, and the Transbaikal highlands. There are occurrences in the mountains of western China (including in the provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan), in the Changbai Mountains on the boundary with Korea, in the Japanese Alps, on the island of Sakhalin and in isolated areas on the nearby Russian mainland. It is widely distributed in eastern Kamchatka, in Chukotka, on the Aleut Islands, in parts of Alaska, and then across the constituent ranges of the North American Cordillera in western Canada and the United States, its continuous area reaching its southern limits in the San Bernardino Mountains in California, the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico, with the species reappearing further south at high altitudes in the Transvolcanic Belt of central Mexico.
It is also found in the northeast of the continent: in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, in the Chic-Choc Mountains of the Gaspé region of Quebec, in the Long Range Mountains on Newfoundland, and then more sporadically further north in Canada: along the coasts of northern Quebec and Labrador, in some areas around Hudson Bay and in the south of Baffin Island. Finally, the plant is also known from both the western and the eastern coastal areas of Greenland.


Sibbaldiopsis is a genus in the plant family Rosaceae. This genus only contains a single species: Sibbaldiopsis tridentata, formerly Potentilla tridentata. Commonly, its names include three-toothed cinquefoil, shrubby fivefingers, and wineleaf. Systemic phylogenetic work has placed S. tridentata within Sibbaldia as Sibbaldia retusa.


Sibbaldiopsis tridentata was first described by William Aiton, but later corrected by Per Axel Rydberg.
The species had been called Potentilla tridentata, but because of genetic analysis, it was discovered that the plant was closer to the boreal species Sibbaldia procumbens, and was placed in its own genus. The genus name Sibbaldiopsis comes from Sibbaldia and the suffix -opsis, meaning "resembling".
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata has sometimes been cited as Potentilla retusa, as it is much older, despite having yellow flowers. In addition, poor specimens of Sibbaldiopsis tridentata resemble Sibbaldia procumbens more than Sibbaldiopsis tridentata itself.


Sibbaldiopsis tridentata prefers dry and acidic soil, usually on rocky or gravelly shores that have access to a lot of sun. It is often found on shale outcrops. The species is located all over the central to eastern American states, with disjunct populations extending down the Appalachian Mountains. The species also lives in the Canadian provinces east of and including Alberta, as well as Greenland. In Nova Scotia, the species is very common in the center of the Annapolis Valley and around cliffs or rocky outcrops. The southernmost known populations are located in Georgia and North Carolina, and occupy high-elevation rock outcrops and grassy balds.
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata is listed as endangered in 5 US states.


Sibbaldiopsis tridentata is a short evergreen perennial plant, growing up to ten inches. Its leaves are compound and trifoliate, usually growing at the base in an alternating pattern, each leaflet growing up to an inch-and-a-half in length and a half-an-inch across. The leaflets are oblanceolate with a truncated tip having three teeth. The leaves are glossy and evergreen. They turn deep red in fall if the plants are grown in sun.
Its branches are herbaceous and pubescent, but its roots are woody.
Its flowers are small and white, radial, and arranged in a compound bracteate cyme, having five sepals and five petals with several stamens and a few pistils. The individual flowers resemble flowers from the genus Potentilla.
Its blooming period lasts two to three months, between June to August. Eventually, the triangular sepals fold up and tiny, hairy brown seeds develop inside them.


Eriksson, Torsten; Lundberg, Magnus; Töpel, Mats; Östensson, Pia; Smedmark, Jenny E. E. (January 2015). "Sibbaldia: a molecular phylogenetic study of a remarkably polyphyletic genus in Rosaceae. Plant Systematics and Evolution". 301 (1): 171–184.
Eriksson, Torsten; Hibbs, Malin S.; Yoder, Anne D.; Delwiche, Charles F.; Donoghue, Michael J. (2003). "The Phylogeny of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) Based on Sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) of Nuclear Ribosomal DNA and the trnL/F Region of Chloroplast DNA". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (2): 197–211. doi:10.1086/346163. S2CID 22378156.
Radford, AE; Ahles, HE; Bell, CR (1964). Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill Press.
"Sibbaldiopsis tridentata". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. 2007.


The saffron finch  (Sicalis flaveola) is a tanager from South America that is common in open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin. They have a wide distribution in Colombia, northern Venezuela (where it is called "canario de tejado" or "roof canary"), western Ecuador, western Peru, eastern and southern Brazil (where it is called "canário-da-terra" or "native canary"), Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Trinidad and Tobago. It has also been introduced to Hawaii,Panama, Puerto Rico and elsewhere. Although commonly regarded as a canary, it is not related to the Atlantic canary. Formerly, it was placed in the Emberizidae but it is close to the seedeaters.


The saffron finch was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla flaveola. The specific epithet is a diminutive of the Latin flavus meaning "golden" or "yellow". The type locality is Suriname. The saffron finch  is now placed in the genus Sicalis that was introduced in 1828 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.
Five subspecies are recognised:
S. f. flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766) – Trinidad, Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas
S. f. valida Bangs & Penard, TE, 1921 – Ecuador and northwest Peru
S. f. brasiliensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – east Brazil
S. f. pelzelni Sclater, PL, 1872 – east Bolivia, Paraguay, southeast Brazil, north Argentina and Uruguay
S. f. koenigi Hoy, G, 1978 – northwest Argentina


The male is bright yellow with an orange crown which distinguishes it from most other yellow finches (the exception being the orange-fronted yellow finch). The females are more difficult to identify and are usually just a slightly duller version of the male, but in the southern subspecies S. f. pelzelni they are olive-brown with heavy dark streaks.


Typically nesting in cavities, the saffron finch makes use of sites such as abandoned rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus) nests, bamboo branches and under house roofs - this species is tolerant of human proximity, appearing at suburban areas and frequenting bird tables.  They have a pleasant but repetitious song which, combined with their appearance, has led to them being kept as caged birds in many areas. Males are polygamous, mating with two females during the nesting season, and territorial, which has led to the species being used for blood sporting with two males put in a cage in order to fight.


Sicyos angulatus, the oneseed bur cucumber or star-cucumber is an annual vine in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, native to eastern North America. The plant forms mats or climbs using tendrils. The leaves are palmately veined and lobed, the flowers are green to yellowish green, and the fruits form clusters of very small pepos.


The vine produces long branching annual stems that climb over shrubs and fences or trail across the ground. The stems are hairy, pale green and furrowed. The alternate leaves have three to five palmate lobes and can be 8 in (20 cm) across. The margin is slightly toothed, the upper surface of the blade is usually hairless and the under side has fine hairs, especially on the veins. The petiole is thick and hairy, and about 5 in (13 cm) long. The leaf is deeply indented where it is attached to the petiole. Opposite some of the junctions formed by the petiole and stem, grow branched tendrils, and at others there are flower shoots. The flowers are monoecious, with separate male and female blooms. The male flowers are in long-stemmed racemes. Each flower is about 0.3 in (0.8 cm) wide, with a calyx with five pointed teeth, a whitish, green-veined corolla with five lobes, and a central boss of stamens. The small female flowers are bunched together on a short stalk, each having its ovary enclosed in a spiny, hairy fruit; one seed is produced by each flower. The fruit is about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) long, green at first but becomes brown with age; it is dispersed by animals which come into contact with its bristly surface.


S. angulatus is native to Ontario and Quebec in Canada, and the eastern and southern parts of the United States as far west as North Dakota and Texas. It grows in fertile, moist habitats such as floodplain areas, damp grassland, thickets, bushy places, river banks, ditches and field verges. It appreciates disturbed ground.


In Europe the oneseed bur cucumber was introduced as a ornamental plant during the 18th century; the first report of its naturalization in Germany dates back to 1835. In Italy was reported in Trentino since 1853. Nowadays Sicyos angulatus is considered an invasive species, quite difficult to control because its seed bank can last in the ground for at least three years after the destruction of the aerial part of the plant. Its infestation can be impressive, covering the pre-existing vegetation with thick and heavy mats. The species tend to spread along river banks, where it finds the better ecological conditions for its growth, but recently it can also be found alongside road and field edges.


Bumblebees and honey bees, as well as various flies, sphecid wasps and vespid wasps are attracted to the nectar produced by the flowers. Some bees also collect pollen from the male flowers. The horned squash bug and Anasa repetita feed on the plant, as do the spotted cucumber beetle, the striped cucumber beetle and the leaf beetle Acalymma gouldi. Herbivorous mammals seem to avoid the plant.


The foliage of Sicyos angulatus can be cooked and eaten as a green vegetable, and the fruits can also be eaten, but because of their size are of little value. A decoction of the plant has been used to treat venereal disease.


The stems are erect to sprawling and branched, growing 50 to 120 centimeters in height, with the lower sections being woody. The dark green, diamond-shaped leaves are arranged alternately along the stem, 4 to 8 centimeters long, with petioles that are less than a third of the length of the leaves. The leaves are paler below, with short, grayish hairs. The apical half of the leaves have toothed or serrated margins while the remainder of the leaves are entire (untoothed). The petioles have small spiny stipules at their bases.


The moderately delicate flowers occur singly on flower stalks that arise from the area between the stems and leaf petioles. They consist of five petals that are 4 to 8 millimeters long, creamy to orange-yellow in color, and may be somewhat reddish in the center. Each of the five overlapping petals is asymmetric, having a long lobe on one side. The stamens unite in a short column. The fruit is a ribbed capsule, which breaks up into 8 to 10 segments. The plant blooms throughout the year.


It is widely distributed as a tropical and subtropical weed in the eastern and western hemispheres. This species is usually confined to waste ground, such as roadsides and rocky areas, stock camps or rabbit warrens, but can be competitive in pasture, because of its unpalatability to livestock. It grows on savannahs, roadsides, thick scrub, hillsides, and swampy woodlands. It is such a tropical species that it is located below 2,000 meters above sea level.


The plant is emollient and is for ulcers, high fevers and is antidiarrheal. It is useful against heart conditions such as pulmonary catarrh and ovarian diseases. Its root is used as an anticrotalic, a serum is prepared against the venom of rattlesnakes and black widow spiders. In Jalapa (Mexico) it is used a substitute drug for marijuana. In Alor, Eastern Indonesia the leaves are used to treat boils, and the root is used to treat infant asthma.


Sidalcea malviflora is native to the West Coast of the United States, from Washington to California, and into northwestern Baja California. It is a common plant of chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and other habitat types.


Sidalcea malviflora is somewhat variable in appearance and there are many subspecies. In general it is a perennial herb growing from a woody caudex and rhizome, its stem reaching about 60 centimeters in maximum height. It is sparsely to densely hairy in texture. The leaf blades are variable in shape, but are often divided deeply into several lobes. The inflorescence is a dense or loose array of several flowers. The flower has five petals in shades of bright to dark pink, often with white veining, and measuring one to over three centimeters in length.


There are over ten subspecies, some of which are endemic and rare:. They include:
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. californica — California checkerbloom.
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. dolosa — endemic to the San Bernardino Mountains.
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. laciniata
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. laciniata var. laciniata
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. laciniata var. sancta
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. malviflora  — Checker mallow
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. patula — Siskiyou checkerbloom — endemic to far northwestern California and southwestern Oregon.
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. purpurea — Purple-stemmed checkerbloom — endemic to the California coast just north of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. rostrata
Sidalcea malviflora ssp. virgata — Dwarf checkerbloom


Sidalcea malviflora is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use in traditional, native plant, water conserving, and wildlife gardens.
Cultivars have been selected for flower colors and size qualities, they include:
Sidalcea malviflora 'Little Princess'
Sidalcea malviflora 'Palustre' — Palustre Checkerbloom — more compact and a heavier bloom produced.
Sidalcea malviflora 'Party Girl'
Sidalcea malviflora 'Rosanna' — Rosanna Checker Mallow


It is a larval host to the West Coast lady.


It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Utah, where it grows in a number of moist habitat types, such as marshes and meadows. The plant is somewhat variable in appearance, and the species is divided into a few subspecies; some authors also recognize varieties within subspecies. In general, this is a perennial herb growing to maximum heights well over one meter from a woody taproot.


Sidalcea oregana is usually hairy in texture, the hairs thick and bristly toward the base of the stem. Most of the leaves are located low on the stem, basal or on long petioles. Their blades are usually deeply divided into lobes (see image at left); upper leaves may be divided further into leaflets.
The inflorescence is a dense or open spikelike raceme of many flowers. Each flower has five pink petals up to 2 centimeters long, usually notched at the end, and a central tube of reproductive parts (see flower closeup image).


Subspecies include:
Sidalcea oregana var. calva — Wenatchee Mountains checkermallow, endemic to the Wenatchee Mountains of Washington and a federally listed Endangered species.
Sidalcea oregana ssp. eximia — coast checkerbloom, endemic to ~10 populations in northwestern California, a Critically endangered species on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants.
Sidalcea oregana ssp. hydrophila
Sidalcea oregana ssp. oregana
Sidalcea oregana ssp. spicata — spicate checkerbloom or bog mallow, widespread in meadows or streamsides of the Sierra and Cascades in California, below 10,000 ft (3,000 m).
Sidalcea oregana ssp. valida — Kenwood Marsh checkerbloom, known only from two marshes in Sonoma County, California, a federal, state, and CNPS listed endangered species.


Sideroxylon inerme (aMasethole or white milkwood, Afrikaans: wit-melkhout, Xhosa: Ximafana, Zulu: Umakhwelafingqane) is a Southern African coastal tree, with dense foliage, black berries and small, foetid, greenish flowers. The tree's generic name means "Iron-wood" in Greek, referring to its very hard timber.
It is one of South Africa's "Protected Trees" and several specimens are provincial heritage sites. This is the only member of the genus Sideroxylon in southern Africa.


The Sideroxylon inerme trees are scattered through the coastal woodlands and littoral forests of South Africa as far as Zimbabwe. Historically, dense forests of large milkwood trees used to exist along the coast and bays of Cape Town, especially at Noordhoek, Macassar and Gordons Bay.
The milkwood is not endangered but it is one of South Africa's Protected Trees, which means that it is illegal to damage, move or destroy them.


Sideroxylon inerme is a semi-coastal sturdy broadleaf evergreen tree with dense foliage, displays of white bisexual flowers and edible purplish-black berries. It boasts leathery, spiral leaves, which, like the berries, contain milky latex. Young branches and new leaves are always covered with fine hairs. The tree can reach 15 m.
The milkwood has considerable value in traditional medicine and attracts birds, monkeys and other animals to its flowers and fruits : Speckled mousebirds eat the flowers ; birds, bats, monkeys and bush pigs eat the fruit. It is also an effective firebreak and is cultivated for that purpose.


Sideroxylon inerme carries three sub-species :
Sideroxylon inerme cryptophlebium (Baker) J.H.Hemsl., which grows on Aldabra island (Seychelles) ;
Sideroxylon inerme diospyroides (Baker) J.H.Hemsl., whose range extends to Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique ;
Sideroxylon inerme inerme, in Mozambique and South Africa.


Silene antirrhina is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names sleepy silene and sleepy catchfly. It is native to the Americas, where it is widespread throughout North America and parts of South America. It is known in Europe as an introduced species.
It can be found in a wide range of habitat types, including disturbed and recently burned areas. It is sometimes weedy.


Silene antirrhina is quite variable in appearance, its morphology depending on several environmental factors, such as moisture level and available nutrients. In general it is an annual herb growing erect to a maximum height near 80 centimeters.
The slender stem grows from a taproot and branches near the top. There are dark-colored internodes on the stem, the upper ones often glandular in sticky in texture. Insects become trapped in the sticky patches on this protocarnivorous plant, but it does not obtain any nutrients from them. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 6 centimeters long near the base of the stem, and are smaller and narrower farther up.
The flower is enveloped in an inflated ovate calyx of fused sepals with ten veins. The calyx is open at the top, often revealing five double-lobed petals in shades of pink, red, or purple to white; the petals are sometimes absent.


Silene coronaria, the rose campion, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to Asia and Europe. Other common names include dusty miller (this also refers to Centaurea cineraria and Jacobaea maritima), mullein-pink and bloody William. In the United Kingdom it is still widely referenced under its synonym Lychnis coronaria.
The Latin coronaria means "used for garlands".
It is a perennial growing to 80 cm (31 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) wide, with grey felted leaves and single, bright magenta flowers produced in succession around July. Though short-lived, the plant readily self-seeds in favourable locations. It is sometimes grown as a biennial.


It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, as has the white-flowered cultivar 'Alba'.


Silene  dioica (syn. Melandrium rubrum), known as red campion and red catchfly, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe. It has been introduced in Iceland, Canada, the US, and Argentina.


It is a biennial or perennial plant, with dark pink to red flowers, each 1.8-2.5 cm across. There are five petals which are deeply notched at the end, narrowed at the base and all go into an urn-shaped calyx.  As indicated by the specific name, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants (dioecious), the male with 10 stamens and a 10-veined calyx, the female with 5 styles and a 20-veined calyx.  The fruit, produced from July onwards, is an ovoid capsule containing numerous seeds, opening at the apex by 10 teeth which curve back. The flowers are unscented. The flowering period is from May to October and the flowers are frequently visited by flies such as Rhingia campestris. The plant grows to 30–90 cm, with branching stems. The deep green leaves are in opposite and decussate pairs, simple acute ovate, 3–8 cm long with an untoothed margin; both the leaves and stems of the plant are hairy and slightly sticky. The upper leaves are stalkless.