Black-throated Blue Warbler - BirdForum Opus

Breeding Male
Photo © by Marcel Gauthier
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada, May 2005

Setophaga caerulescens

Dendroica caerulescens

Identification

Adult male unmistakeable; dark blue with black face and black on sides with white belly.
Adult female is plain drab olive-colored with small white spot at base of primaries, white eye-arc, and dark auriculars.

Distribution

Adult Female, Breeding Plumage
Photo by © Raulqc
Green Cay Wetlands, Florida, April 2008

Breeds in northeastern North America from western Ontario and northern Michigan east to eastern Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia south to Pennsylvania; also along the Appalachians south to northern Georgia.
Winters in Central America, Bahamas, Caribbean and the tip of Florida.
Rare to casual vagrant in the west with with the most records in California (over 600 records).

Taxonomy

Formerly placed in genus Dendroica.

Subspecies¹

Contains two subspecies:

• S. c. caerulescens:

• South-eastern Canada to north-eastern US; winters to [[Bahamas and Greater Antilles (breeds north of central Pennsylvania)

• S. c. cairnsi:

• East-central US; winters to Bahamas and Greater Antilles (breeds south of central Pennsylvania south along the Appalachians)

Habitat

Nearly always found in shady understory of deciduous and mixed woodlands. In migration can be found in most woodlands.

Behaviour

Breeding

Nests in shrubs and small trees.

Diet

Diet mostly insectivorous but will eat seeds and other vegetable matter in the winter.

Vocalisation

Song: Buzzy and rising at the end, zeeer-zeeer-zeeeeee.

Reference

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Dunn, Jon; Garrett, Kimball. 1997. A Field Guide to Warblers of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395783214

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-throated Blue Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-throated_Blue_Warbler

External Links

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