Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus)

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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

Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus)

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

Breeding Male: The back and nape of the neck are olive-brown and the head and underparts are yellow. The wings are blue-gray with two prominent white wing bars. A black line runs through the eye.

Female: Similar to the breeding male, but the yellow of the head and underside is paler than in the breeding male and slightly duller looking.

Fall Male and Female: Similar to the breeding male and female.

Immature: Similar to the female.

Similar Species: The combination of the yellow head, black eye line, and the contrasting blue-gray wings with white wing bars are uniquely characteristic of the Blue-winged Warbler.

Breeding Range (see map below):  The Blue-winged Warbler has a breeding range restricted to the northeastern and east-central United States from New Hampshire in the north and east to northern Georgia and Alabama in the south, and southern Minnesota and Akansas in the west.

Overwintering Range: American tropics.

Habitat: The Blue-winged Warbler is found in abandoned fields and old pasutres overgrown with tree saplings. The species is also found in clearings in the woods such as powerlines or old farms edged with brambles of various types.

Food: Insects.

Behavior: The song is insect-like and very similar to that of the Golden-winged Warbler, but shorter than the song of that species.

Reproduction: The nest is a cup constructed of leaves and other plant material lined with grass. The nest is placed on, or nearly on, the ground in thick vegetation. The clutch consists of 4 to 5 white eggs with brown dots. Incubation time is about 10 days and the young are ready to leave the nest 8 to 10 days after hatching.

Notes: Despite their superficial diffierences the Golden-winged Warbler and the Blue-winged Warbler are closely related and frequently hybridize in the field. The hybrids show a variety of mixtures of the characters of the two species. Two of these hybrid types are known as Lawrence's Warbler and Brewster's Warbler .