Black-throated Green Warbler

Dendroica virens

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family PARULIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

An abundant breeder of the northeastern coniferous forests, the Black-throated Green Warbler is easy to recognize by sight and sound. Its dark black bib and bright yellow face are unique amongst Eastern birds, and its persistent song of "zoo-zee, zoo-zoo-zee" is easy to remember.

Cool Facts

• The male Black-throated Green Warbler sings persistently during the breeding season. One individual was observed singing 466 songs in one hour.
• The male Black-throated Green Warbler tends to sing his "zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee" song near the middle of his territory, largely in the beginning of the breeding season to attract females. He sings the "zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-zee" song mostly around the territory's margins, to deter other males.

• A population of the Black-throated Green Warbler is confined to the coastal plain of Virginia and the Carolinas, 500 km (311 mi) east of, and 1,200 m (4000 feet) lower than, Appalachian birds. These slightly smaller birds are different enough to be considered a separate subspecies, and are found breeding in cypress swamps.

Description

• Size: 11-12 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 17-20 cm (7-8 in)
• Weight: 7-11 g (0.25-0.39 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Black in throat, extending as stripes down sides of chest.
• Yellow face.
• Crown and back olive green.
• Two white wingbars.
• Belly white.

• Dull olive mask in yellow face, with yellow crescent under eyes.
• White spots in outer tail feathers.
• Slight yellow wash across vent.
• Bill black.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs dark brown.

Sex Differences

Males have black chins, throats, and upper breasts; black extends from sides of breast into broad, bold streaks on sides. Female has whitish throat, with variable amounts of black along breast and flanks.

Male

Yellow face, with olive-green crown and ear patches. Green mantle. Two white bars on each wing. Black chin, throat, and breast, with bold streaks on the flanks.

Female

Similar to male, but chin and upper throat are white or pale yellow; black may be broken across middle of breast.

Immature

In first fall and winter, very similar to adult female, but with brighter yellow face and yellow-tinged underparts.

Similar Species

• The Black-throated Green Warbler is closely related to several other warbler species, which it closely resembles.
• Golden-cheeked Warbler has black crown, dark line through eye, and black or streaked dark-gray mantle.
• Hermit Warbler has a gray back and yellow crown and face.
• Townsend's Warbler has darker ear patches (black on male, dark olive on female) and largely yellow underparts.

Sound

Song is a musical, buzzy "zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee" or "zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-zee." Call note is a sharp chip.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from the northeastern United States across southern Canada to northeastern British Columbia, and southward through the Appalachian Mountains to northern Alabama. Also along Atlantic Coast from Virginia to South Carolina.

Winter Range

Winters in Mexico and Central America, especially at higher elevations. Small numbers in the Caribbean and northern South America.

Habitat

Boreal coniferous forest and transitional coniferous-deciduous forest.

Food

Insects and insect larvae.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans from small branches; sometimes hovers and picks prey from leaves and branches.

Reproduction

Nest Type

An open cup of twigs, grass, bark, and spider silk, lined with moss, hair, and feathers. Typically located at a fork in tree branches, one to three meters (three to ten feet) from the ground.

Egg Description

Whitish with variable brown blotches or speckles.

Clutch Size

Usually 4 eggs. Range: 3-5.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with sparse down.

Conservation Status

Populations have been stable through the early 1990s. Logging of coniferous forests negatively affects Black-throated Green Warbler populations, but the species does also breed in second-growth coniferous forest.

Other Names

Paruline à gorge noire (French)
Verdín de pecho negro (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Morse, D. H. 1993. Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens). In The Birds of North America, No. 55 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.