Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Abundance: Uncommon during spring and summer; Very Uncommon during early fall; recorded in 23 Regional counties, 10 in Kentucky and 13 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the Regional breeding population (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident.

Regional High Count: 37 (2 August 2003; Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton); SBC/SBB High Count: 12 (8 May 2004; Pulaski County, Kentucky [SBC]; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 1 (20 September 2003; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 5 April 2014 (Putnam County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman).

    Late Fall: x (

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 20 April; fall departure largely complete by 1 September, but data are thin during fall.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent).  The only cavity-nesting warbler in the Region, the Prothonotary will accept artificial nest boxes of the right size and placement from those who would like to encourage its presence; a nest with four large nestlings in an artificial box is illustrated in this photo (Kathy Harville; Upchurch Rd., Smith County, Tennessee; 3 June 2007).

Habitat: The wooded shores of the big lakes of the Region and the slower-moving sections of the larger rivers of the Region appear to harbor the densest populations of this warbler; it also appears in wooded swamps, sometimes of fairly small extent.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 0 (of 125 possible) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 1 (of 206 possible) check-list during 2004, resulting in a YardWatch frequency classification of Rare during the latter year; the Prothonotary is somewhat less frequently encountered in Regional yards and neighborhoods than in the Region as a whole.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: 

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited