{{short description|Species of bird}}{{No footnotes|date=August 2025}}{{speciesbox | name = Red-faced warbler | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Cardellina rubrifrons'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22721885A94737888 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22721885A94737888.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | image = RedFacedWarbler.jpg | image_caption = Adult in Madera Canyon, Arizona | image2 = Red-faced_Warbler.wav | genus = Cardellina | species = rubrifrons | authority = (Giraud, 1841) | range_map = Cardellina rubrifrons map.svg | range_map_caption = <div style="text-align: left"> {{legend|#FFFF00| Breeding range}} {{legend|#008000| Breeding and wintering range}} {{legend|#0000FF| Wintering range}} </div> }}

The '''red-faced warbler''' ('''''Cardellina rubrifrons''''') is a species of New World warbler.

Mature red-faced warblers are small birds, {{convert|14|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} long. They are light gray on top with a white rump and a white underside. The face, neck, and upper breast are all bright red, while the crown and sides of the head are black. The spot on the back of the head where the black crown and gray back meet is sometimes speckled gray, or sometimes plain white. They have a quirky habit of flicking their tail sideways while feeding.

Red-faced warblers are locally common in mountain forests of conifers and oak at {{convert|2,000|to|3,000|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level. In summer they frequent northern Mexico and range up into the states of Arizona and New Mexico &ndash; the Madrean sky islands. In winter they migrate south into southern Mexico and the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. They are permanent residents of the central and southern mountains of western Mexico, the range called Sierra Madre Occidental.

The nest is a small cup constructed from leaves, grass, and pine needles. It is hidden amongst the debris on the forest floor, buried in the ground, sheltered under a shrub, log, or rock. The female lays 3 to 5 eggs, which are white spotted with brown. Incubation and nestling periods average 12 days each.

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Red-faced Warbler NGM-v31-p305-D.jpg|Red-faced warbler by Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1917) File:Cardellina rubrifrons.jpg|Singing adult File:Red-faced Warbler in Coconino.jpg|Adult in Coconino National Forest, Arizona </gallery>

==References==

{{Reflist}} * Curson, J., Quinn, D. & Beadle, D. (1994). ''New World Warblers''. Helm. {{ISBN|0-7136-3932-6}}

==Further reading==

===Books=== * Martin, T. E., and P. M. Barber. 1995. ''Red-faced Warbler (Cardellina rubrifrons)''. In ''The Birds of North America'', No. 152 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

===Articles=== * Barber PM, Martin TE & Smith KG. (1998). ''Pair interactions in Red-faced Warblers''. Condor. vol '''100''', no 3. p.&nbsp;512–518. * Dobbs RC & Martin TR. (1998). ''Variation of foraging behavior among nesting stages of female Red-faced Warblers''. Condor. vol '''100''', no 4. p.&nbsp;741–745. * Hellebuyck V. (1983). ''3 New Specimen Records of Birds for El-Salvador''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '''95''', no 4. p.&nbsp;662–664. * Lovette IJ & Hochachka WM. (2006). ''Simultaneous effects of phylogenetic niche conservatism and competition on avian community structure''. Ecology. p. S) S14–S28, JUL 2006. * Martin TE. (1996). ''Fitness costs of resource overlap among coexisting bird species''. Nature. vol '''380''', no 6572. p.&nbsp;338–340. * Martin TE. (1998). ''Are microhabitat preferences of coexisting species under selection and adaptive?''. Ecology. vol '''79''', no 2. p.&nbsp;656–670. * Martin TE & Barber PM. (1995). ''Red-faced Warbler Cardellina rubrifrons''. Birds of North America. vol '''0''', no 152. p.&nbsp;1–16. * Martin TE, Scott J & Menge C. (2000). ''Nest predation increases with parental activity: Separating nest site and parental activity effects''. Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences Series B. vol '''267''', no 1459. p.&nbsp;2287–2293. * McCaskie G. (1970). ''A Red-Faced Warbler Reaches California''. California Birds. vol '''1''', no 4. p.&nbsp;145–146. * Palacios MG & Martin TE. (2006). ''Incubation period and immune function: a comparative field study among coexisting birds''. Oecologia. vol '''146''', no 4. p. 505–512. * Patricia MB, Thomas EM & Kimberly GS. (1998). ''Pair interactions in Red-faced Warblers''. The Condor. vol '''100''', no 3. p.&nbsp;512. * Robert CD & Thomas EM. (1998). ''Variation in foraging behavior among nesting stages of female Red-faced Warblers''. The Condor. vol '''100''', no 4. p. 741. * Rusterholz KA. (1981). ''Competition and the Structure of an Avian Foraging Guild''. American Naturalist. vol '''118''', no 2. p.&nbsp;173–190.

<!-- Please see the RangeMap: This species is "Permanent Reseident" in the central, and southerly sections of the Sierra Madre Occidental(WEST), ...some go north to breed. The "Non-breeding Resident" areas are to the South from the S-Madre-Occidental.(the Transverse Ranges, Oriental(the most southward part-they are not in central or north of the Oriental range)), and all points southward.) --> <!-- It is also true that they breed north, the most north being the [Mogollon Rim] of AZ-(west NMex)--> External links *[http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=9015 Red-faced warbler videos] on the Internet Bird Collection *[http://fireflyforest.net/images/firefly/2006/November/Red-faced-warbler.jpg Red-faced warbler photo]; [http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/11/20/red-faced-warbler/ Article] firefly forest *[http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=red-faced+warbler&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Red-faced warbler photo gallery]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} VIREO [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/species_image.php?species=Cardellina+rubrifrons Photo-High Res--(Close-up)] *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20010413064713/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/19907000.htm Stamps]}} (for El Salvador) with RangeMap *[http://vireo.acnatsci.org/species_image.php?species=Cardellina+rubrifrons Photo-High Res]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q427241}}

red-faced warbler Category:Native birds of the Southwestern United States Category:Fauna of the Chihuahuan Desert Category:Birds of Mexico red-faced warbler Category:Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental Category:Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur Category:Birds of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt