The Magnolia Warbler is one of the showiest birds of Michigan's spring migration, a small warbler splashed with yellow underparts hung with bold black "necklace" streaks, a gray hood, white wing patches, and a distinctive black-and-white tail pattern that flashes as it forages. It often feeds low and in the open, flicking its tail to reveal the white tail band, which makes it easier to enjoy than many high-canopy warblers. Despite the name, magnolias have little to do with it — the bird was simply first collected in a magnolia tree.
It breeds in young, dense conifer stands and mixed woods across northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, favoring small spruces and firs where it nests low. Across the rest of the state it is a common and eagerly watched migrant in May and again in fall, when it moves through gardens, thickets, and woodland edges on its way to and from wintering grounds in Central America and the Caribbean.
Gleans caterpillars, insects, and spiders from foliage, often foraging low and toward the tips of branches, and sometimes hovering or making short flights to catch prey. It favors the caterpillars of the conifer canopy in the breeding season and takes some berries on migration.
No. The name comes from the tree where the first specimen was collected during migration. It actually breeds in young spruce and fir forests, not among magnolias.
The tail. From below, the Magnolia Warbler shows a broad white band across a black tail, unlike any other warbler. Combined with the yellow underparts and black necklace streaks, it is distinctive.
Mainly during migration in May and again from late August into September, in thickets, gardens, and woodland edges. It breeds in the conifer forests of the north.
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