Black-throated Green Warbler
Setophaga virens
eBird describes the Black-throated Green Warbler this way: Bright yellow face with olive cheeks, crown, and back. Only breeding males have solid black throat. In all plumages, look for dark streaks on white flanks and yellow wash on vent. Breeds in mixed coniferous forests; migrants can be found in any wooded habitat, usually with tall trees. Winters primarily in Central America and the Caribbean, rarely into northern South America. Compare especially with Townsend’s Warbler on the wintering grounds, but Black-throated Green has a less contrasting face pattern (especially paler crown and cheeks) and less yellow on breast. All About Birds adds this descriptive information about the Black-throated Green Warbler: A delicate, lemon-faced canopy dweller, Black-throated Green Warblers are standouts in a family that does not lack for spectacle. It’s a common breeder from northern boreal forests to hardwoods of the southeastern U.S., and even cypress swamps. Many bird watchers know its distinctive and persistent song, sometimes transcribed as trees trees I love trees, that’s easy to remember. Black-throated Green Warblers are the easternmost representative of a quartet of closely related warblers including Townsend’s, Hermit, and Golden-cheeked.
I saw my first Black-throated Green Warbler at the central drip at Sabine Woods on the afternoon of April 20, 2021. What a beautiful little bird!
“Cool Facts” About the Black-throated Green Warbler From All About Birds:
- One male Black-throated Green Warbler was observed singing 466 songs in one hour.
- Black-throated Green Warblers are often thought of as birds of mountain forests, but a disjunct population nests in cypress swamps along the coast of Virginia and the Carolinas. Called “Wayne’s” Black-throated Green Warbler, this subspecies averages smaller than other populations.
- In areas where multiple species of warblers breed close together, Black-throated Green Warblers are generally dominant to Blackburnian Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Northern Parulas, but subordinate to Magnolia Warblers.
- The oldest recorded Black-throated Green Warbler was a male, and at least 4 years, 11 months old. He was banded and found in Nova Scotia.