Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla)

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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

Photo: Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla)

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

Breeding Male: The male has a distinctive black cap on the top of head. A yellow band runs across the top of the eye and over the bill. The throat and breast, as well as the rest of the underside are yellow. Wing bars and white streaks are absent from the tail feathers.

Female: Similar to the male, but the cap of the head is olive-brown not black. A light yellow bar stretches over the eye (supercilium). Wing bars and white streaked tail feathers are absent

Fall Male and Female: Similar to the female.

Immature: Similar to the female.

Similar Species: The breeding male can be easily identified by the black cap on the top of the head. Females are more difficult and are very similar to a number of female and immature warblers, particularly the Hooded Warbler. However the Wilson's Warbler lacks wing bars and the underside does not have streaks. Wilson's Warbler lacks the white streaked tail feathers found in the Hooded Warbler.

Breeding Range (see map below): Wilson's Warbler occurs throughout the Northern Boreal Forest. In the east is extends as far south as Maine and northern Minnesota. In the west Wilson's Warbler is found throughout the montane regions of the western United States as far south as southern Caliofrnia and northern Arizona and New Mexico.

Overwintering Range: American tropics.

Habitat: Wilson's Warbler is found in moist tangles of undergrowth in the forest and along streams, willow and alder thickets, and bogs.

Food: Insects.

Behavior: This warbler is found in the tangled shrubs and brambles and hawks flying insects much like a flycatcher.

Reproduction: The nest is a loose, bulky mass of leaves, moss, and small roots. The nest is on the ground concealed in clumps of plants. Clutch size is 4 to 5 white eggs with brown spots. Incubation takes about 12 days with the young leavng the nest about 10 days after hatching.