Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens)

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A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (The Peterson Field Guide Series). by Kimball L. Garrett, Jon L. Dunn, Cindy House (Illustrator)

Warblers of Eastern North America

Color Photograph: U.S. Forest Service

Recording by John R. Sauer, U.S. Geological Survey

Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens)

Identification: 4.25 inches from tip of bill to tip of tail.

Breeding Male: The crown and back are olive-brown. The most diagnostic feature is a large black patch on the throat. The side of the head is yellow with a vague, triangular, black patch below the eye. The breast and belly are white (sometimes slightly tinged with yellow and there are strong black streaks on the side. Wing bars are present.

Female: The female Black-throated Green Warbler is similar to the male, but duller. The black throat patch is absent or indicated by a few scattered black feathers.

Fall Male and Female: The fall male is similar to the breeding male, but duller and the feathers of the breast and throat are edged with yellow. The fall female is similar to the breeding female.

Immature: Similar to the female.

Similar Species: The Black-throated Green Warbler is unlikely to be confused with any other eastern warbler during the breeding season. The yellowish face with diffuse black or gray patch in the center will separate fall individuals and immatures from other species in the east.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Black-throated Green Warbler breeds throughout the Northern Boreal Forest as far west as Alberta and eastward to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The species breeds throughout the eastern United States and extends southward in the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia. Scattered other populations exist in the United States.

Overwintering Range: The species overwinters in south Texas and southern Florida and southward into the American tropics.

Habitat: Within its breeding range the Black-throated Green Warbler lives in open stands of pine or hemlock.

Food: Insects.

Behavior: The song is a thin and buzzy zeer zeer zeer.

Reproduction: The nest is a cup constructed of moss, grass, and other plant fibers. The nest is placed in the branches of a conifer. The clutch consists of 4 to 5 white eggs spotted with brown. Incubation takes about 12 days and the young leave the nest about 10 days after hatching.