Blue-winged Warbler

Vermivora pinus

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family PARULIDAE

Menu

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

Brightly colored but easily overlooked. A bird of shrubland and old fields, the Blue-winged Warbler expanded its breeding grounds northward throughout the 20th century.

Cool Facts

• Hybridizes extensively with Golden-winged Warbler, giving rise to the distinctly plumaged "Brewster's" and "Lawrence's" warblers.

• The Blue-winged Warbler continues to expand its range and may be responsible for the decrease in Golden-winged Warbler populations in some areas.

Description

• Size: 11-12 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 15 cm (6 in)
• Weight: 9 g (0.32 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Head and underparts yellow.
• Black line through eye.
• Wings blue-gray with two white wingbars.

• Back and nape olive.
• Undertail coverts white.
• Bill thin and very pointed.

Sex Differences

Female similar to male but duller in coloration: wingbars not as pronounced, eyeline grayer, crown more olive.

Immature

Similar in appearance, but duller than adults.

Sound

Raspy "bee-buzz," like an inhale and then an exhale. Also a long high buzz with twittering notes at start and finish.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Central Midwest to East Coast of United States; southern Ontario.

Winter Range

Central America: Mexico to Panama. Rare in Caribbean. Newly wintering in Bermuda.

Habitat

• Early to midsuccession habitats, especially abandoned farmland and forest clearings.
• Breeds at forest/field edges, often shaded by large trees.

Food

Insects and spiders.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages mostly in upper half of trees and shrubs. Probes dead leaf clusters in winter. Often hangs upside down.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Open cup of grasses, bark and dead leaves. Leaves may form cap over eggs. Usually on or near ground.

Egg Description

White with small spots of brown or gray near large end.

Clutch Size

Usually 4-5 eggs. Range: 2-7.

Condition at Hatching

Downy and helpless.

Conservation Status

Not threatened. Abandonment of farmlands increased nesting habitat, but suburban sprawl is decreasing it.

Other Names

Paruline à ailes bleues (French)
Cipe ala azul (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Gill, F. B., R. A. Canterbury, and J. L. Confer. 2001. Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus). In The Birds of North America, No. 584 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.