Introduction

There is a singer everyone has heard, Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird, Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again ....”

Robert Frost (1929), in this excerpt from his poem entitled “Ovenbird,” refers to the loud, distinctive, ringing quality of this cryptic warbler’s territorial song. While the poet clearly appreciated the evanescent quality of this singing, and the passing of time that it symbolized, he probably did not realize that he could well have been listening to two different birds. Ovenbirds often countersing; two neighboring males sing their primary song in phase, with the songs of one male following immediately after or overlapping with those of a leading male —a pattern that may continue for 30-40 songs of 3-4 seconds each.

Breeding in mature forests, Ovenbirds build on the ground a unique, camouflaged, domed nest of leaves and grass, a nest that looks oven-like and gives this bird its common name. Primarily a ground feeder as well as a ground nester, this species gleans insects and their larvae from the forest floor.

Ovenbirds breed in northern and northeastern North America and winter in southern Florida and in Mexico, Central America, and on Caribbean islands. Most individuals are thought to migrate along Atlantic and Mississippi flyways. This warbler requires large, contiguous forests for successful breeding, so significant declines in breeding populations have been documented within the last 20 years as North American forests have become increasingly fragmented, subjecting these and other forest interior birds to greater predation and nest parasitism.

Nevertheless, Ovenbird populations across the range vary in abundance, density, and sensitivity to factors that influence breeding success. While more remains to be learned about this species’ nesting, there is an urgent need for information characterizing its wintering habits and the relationship between its use of migratory routes and wintering and breeding sites.