Black-throated Blue Warbler

Overview

Black-throated Blue Warbler: Small warbler that is the most strikingly sexually dimorphic of all wood warblers. Male has dark blue upperparts, black throat and mask. White underparts with black sides and white wing patch at base of primaries. Bill, legs and feet are black. The female is olive-brown.

Range and Habitat

Black-throated Blue Warbler: Breeds from Ontario east to Quebec and Nova Scotia, south to Minnesota, Great Lakes, and Connecticut, and in the mountains to northern Georgia; spends winters in Gulf coast states and the Greater Antilles. Preferred habitats include mixed deciduous and evergreen woodlands with thick undergrowth, especially mountain laurel.

INTERESTING FACTS

Black-throated Blue Warblers are ideal songbirds to study because their nests in the shrub layer are relatively easy to find and monitor, and their plumage allows one to readily determine the sex, and with practice, even the age of individuals.

The sexes of the Black-throated Blue Warbler look so different that they were originally described as two different species.
They are among most trusting and tame of their family. If an observer moves very deliberately, a bird may be approached to within a few feet.
A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

The Black-throated Blue Warbler is a small songbird native to eastern North America, and is rarely seen in western Europe. These birds breed in deciduous and mixed woodlands, and build their nests in thick shrubs, near to the ground. In the winter, they will migrate to the Caribbean islands and Central America. They are very territorial for nesting and migratory sites within the species. The Black-throated Blue Warbler’s diet consists of berries and fruit in the winter, and insects such as caterpillars and crane flies, and spiders year-round. Although this species is classified as Least Concern, its requirement for large forests for nesting is decreasing population numbers.