Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler, male, breeding plumage

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Black-throated Blue Warbler, female

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

A bird of the deep forest, the Black-throated Blue Warbler breeds in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. On migration to its Caribbean wintering grounds it can be seen in a variety of habitats, including parks and gardens.

Description

• Small songbird.
• Short, thin bill.
• Small white spot on edge of folded wing.
• Male deep slate blue above with black face, throat, and flanks.
• Female dull and nondescript.

• Size: 11-13 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 17-20 cm (7-8 in)
• Weight: 8-12 g (0.28-0.42 ounces)

Sex Differences

Male dark blue on back with black face, throat, and sides. Female dull greenish gray with light underparts and a weak, cream-colored eyestripe.

Sound

Song a series of three to seven buzzy notes, with the last slurred upward, "zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zee."

Conservation Status

Probably decreased markedly with destruction of eastern forests in 17th and 18th centuries. With the beginning of abandonment of farms in New England in the late 19th and 20th centuries, populations rebounded. Currently populations seem stable.

Other Names

Paruline bleue à gorge noire (French)
Reinita azul negra (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The sexes of the Black-throated Blue Warbler look so different that they were originally described as two different species.

• On the wintering grounds the sexes use slightly different habitats. The male is most common in forest at lower to mid-elevations, while the female uses shrubbier habitat at higher elevations.

Sources used to construct this page:

Holmes, R. T. 1994. Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens). In The Birds of North America, No. 87 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.