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I am ready to state emphatically that the Prothonotary Warbler is the most beautiful bird I have ever seen.
With a head and breast best described as golden-orange, set off by a bluish gray back and wings, this 5 1/2 inch bird seems to glow as if sunlight has been caught and held by its feathers.
Since the Prothonotary Warbler is a bird of swamps, ponds bordered by stumps, creek bottom lands and river edges, its plumage is often seen against a gloomy, water-logged background in dense shade.
I know this bird nests within the geographic boundaries of readers of this column but, except for the C & O Canal, near Seneca, Md. I cannot say for sure where one may be seen. Along the canal the Prothonotary Warbler nests in old woodpecker holes in tree stumps standing in shallow water. I hope readers who know of this bird’s nesting will let me know; I have long wanted to photograph this warbler and at least attempt to capture its beauty on film.
A walk along the tow path at Seneca is likely to be rewarded by first hearing the song, a loud, emphatic tweet-tweet-tweet ascending in vplume. Then, focusing on the source of the sound, one may see the brilliant male fly to a tree in the water and throw back his head to give impulse to his vigorous song.
There are many farm ponds in the upper Virginia Piedmont that have stumps growing in or near the water. Beavers have been busy creating small lakes where, in many cases, they are not wanted. Some of these have surely been discovered by a male Prothonotary Warbler that declares his territorial rights by constant singing. The female, only slightly less brilliant in plumage than the male, is then drawn to select a cavity and fill it with moss, dry leaves and rootlets to form a nest.
Of all the colorful warblers nesting in Virginia, and, indeed the Eastern United States, the Prothonotary is the only one to nest in a tree cavity — an abandoned woodpecker excavation, rotted out cavity in a stump or knot hole in a tree. I have read that in some areas this bright bird has been known to use man-made nest boxes where they are placed near water. In one instance one built a nest in a goard dipper hanging on a cabin porch.
Prothontary seems a ponderous name to hang on such a small and
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