Golden-winged Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler, male, breeding plumage

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Golden-winged Warbler, pair at nest

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

The Golden-winged Warbler is a small, strikingly marked warbler of eastern early successional habitats. Its population increased for over 100 years as forests were cut down. Now, however, it is losing ground, both because of reforestation and displacement by the spreading Blue-winged Warbler.

Description

• Small songbird.
• Black or gray mask and bib.
• Yellow crown.
• Bright yellow patch on wings.
• Back gray.
• Underparts whitish.

• Size: 13 cm (5 in)
• Weight: 8-11 g (0.28-0.39 ounces)

Sex Differences

Female similar to male, but mask and bib gray instead of black, wing patch smaller and sometimes two wingbars instead of patch.

Sound

Song a high buzzy "zee bee bee bee."

Conservation Status

The Golden-winged Warbler is declining dramatically in the Northeastern United States, and is listed as a Federal Species of Special Concern. Although populations are declining in many areas, it is spreading its range to the northwest where farmland abandonment and clear cutting are common. Declines correlate with loss of shrub habitat and the expansion of Blue-winged Warbler.

Other Names

Paruline a ailes dorees (French)
Verdin alidorado (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Golden-winged Warbler prefers early successional habitats for nesting. Recently abandoned farms and clearcuts are ideal. These habitats, however, do not last long, and the warbler often quickly disappears from an area. The warbler benefited from the extensive deforestation of the last several centuries, especially as farms were abandoned in the 20th century. Current reforestation is reducing available breeding habitat.

• The Golden-winged Warbler hybridizes extensively with the Blue-winged Warbler, giving rise to the distinctly plumaged "Brewster's" and "Lawrence's" warblers. Brewster's looks like a Blue-winged Warbler with a white chest, and Lawrence's looks like an all-yellow Golden-winged Warbler. Backcrosses of hybrids to pure parental types result in many intermediate-appearing birds.

• Hybrids do not sing intermediate songs but sing either normal Blue-winged Warbler or Golden-winged Warbler songs. Some birds sing both. Occasionally pure-looking parental types sing the "wrong" song.

• For more information on the Golden-winged Warbler, check out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Golded-winged Warbler Atlas Project.

Sources used to construct this page:

Confer, J. L. 1992. Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera). In The Birds of North America, No. 14 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.