Blue-winged Warbler (BWWA)

Vermivora cyanoptera

Male Blue-winged Warbler  © Chris Wood / Macaulay Library
Female Blue-winged Warbler © Kyle Tansley / Macaulay Library

Range

The Blue-winged Warbler’s breeding range is highly fragmented, encompassing various regions from southeastern Minnesota to extreme southern Maine and along the Atlantic Coast. It also breeds southwards through parts of Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The Blue-winged Warbler is a medium- to long-distance migrant, known for its nighttime migration across the Gulf of Mexico to its wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.

Additional Maps

Identification

The Blue-winged Warbler, a small wood warbler, is slightly smaller than its close relative, the Golden-winged Warbler. Adult males have a small, pointed black bill, a bright-yellow crown and underparts, a bold black eye-line, a greenish-yellow back and nape, bluish-gray tail and wing, and two distinct white wingbars that are often tinged with yellow. Females are similar to males but slightly duller overall, with a more olive crown and a grayer eye-line. Immature males resemble adult males but have a less contrasting yellowish-olive crown and wingbars with a yellow tint. Immature females are duller, with a greenish crown and an indistinct dusky eye stripe. Both sexes have white undertail coverts. 

Blue-winged Warblers frequently hybridize with Golden-winged Warblers, giving rise to two distinct hybrid species: “Brewster’s” and “Lawrence’s” Warblers. Brewster’s Warblers display golden wingbars and a white belly, similar to Golden-winged Warblers while maintaining a white throat characteristic of Blue-winged Warblers. In contrast, Lawrence’s Warblers exhibit a black throat, resembling Golden-winged Warblers, along with white wingbars and a yellow belly, displaying features reminiscent of Blue-winged Warblers.

Blue-winged Warblers often hang from shrubs like chickadees, foraging upside down and picking insects from dead leaves. Males sing from exposed perches during the breeding season and may join mixed-species flocks during migration and on the wintering grounds.  Their primary song is a raspy bee-buzz and is used to attract a mate. The secondary song is a longer high-pitched buzz with twittering notes at the beginning and end, which is used to defend territories against male rivals. The Blue-winged Warbler’s primary call note, used during moments of alarm or conflict, is a gentle tzip, closely resembling the call of a Golden-winged Warbler. Both Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers employ songs of similar tonal quality and rhythm and have been known to sing each other’s songs, so identifying Blue-winged Warblers by sight is crucial.

Listen to its songs and calls here.

Habitat

The Blue-winged Warbler breeds in shrublands, scrubby areas, thickets, and forest edges, showing a preference for early- to mid-successional habitats with dense herbaceous growth, shrubs, and some forest cover. It has expanded its range to the east and north over the past century, benefiting from abandoned farmland and forest clear-cuts. The species typically occupies sites with dense vegetation, often nesting close to forest edges, hidden within foliage. Additionally, it can occasionally be found in various habitats such as brushy hillsides, bogs, overgrown pastures, stream and woodland edges, and deep swampy woods.

During migration, it rests and forages in open woodlands, shrublands, thorn forests, gardens, and parks. On the wintering grounds, it frequents evergreen and tropical deciduous forests, forest edges, scrubby areas, and hedgerows, often associating with mixed-species flocks. 

Conservation Status 

Threats to Conservation

Expanding suburban development poses a significant threat to the Blue-winged Warbler, as it diminishes the availability of secondary growth and shrub habitats in specific regions. Thus, development and this accelerated growth of suburban areas lead to the loss of breeding habitat for the species. 

Furthermore, the declining populations of Blue-winged Warblers can be attributed, in part, to hybridization and competition with Golden-winged Warblers.

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Works Cited