Black-throated Gray Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler, male, breeding plumage

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Black-throated Gray 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 small warbler of the American West, the Black-throated Gray Warbler is found in pine and mixed oak-pine forests west of the Rocky Mountains.

Description

• Small songbird.
• Gray back.
• White face and underparts.
• Black mask, crown, throat (male), and striping on chest.
• Two white wingbars.
• Small yellow square in front of eye.
• White spots in tail.

• Size: 11-13 cm (4-5 in)
• Weight: 7-10 g (0.25-0.35 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, but female duller, with white chin, and black throat mixed with white.

Sound

Song a series of buzzy notes, full of z's, "zeedle zeedle zeedle zeet-chee."

Conservation Status

Populations stable or increasing.

Other Names

Paruline grise, Fauvette grise à gorge noire (French)
Verdín gargantinegro (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Black-throated Gray Warbler is considered a short-distance migrant, moving from its breeding areas in the western United States only as far south as Mexico. Migrating warblers follow mountain ranges and the Pacific coastline southward. Despite these landmarks, however, some get lost. A few turn up every year in the eastern states as vagrants.

Sources used to construct this page:

Guzy, M. J., and P. E. Lowther. 1997. Black-throated Gray Warbler (Dendroica nigrescens). In The Birds of North America, No. 319 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.