Cerulean Warbler

Setophaga cerulea

eBird describes the Cerulean Warbler like this:  Brilliant sky-blue warbler of the high canopy. Prefers mature deciduous forest, either in riparian areas or dry mountain ridge-tops. Tends to stay high in the canopy; thus, can be difficult to see blue color. From below, look for white throat and belly, thin necklace, and dark streaks on sides. Female is a unique muted turquoise with pale eyebrow and blurry streaks on sides. Immature birds show yellow wash on underparts. All plumages have bold white wingbars. Easiest to detect in spring and summer by its loud buzzy song, similar to Black-throated Blue but usually richer and more distinctly three-parted; much lower-pitched than Blackburnian Warbler. Winters primarily on the east slope of the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia.  All About Birds adds this descriptive information about the Cerulean Warbler:  A warbler the color of the clear blue sky hops sky high through the upper canopy of eastern forests. That’s the male Cerulean Warbler, a brilliant blue songbird with a cerulean neck band and streaks down the sides. Females are equally well-dressed, wearing a dusky hue of blue-green. These long-distance migrants breed in mature eastern deciduous forests and spend the winters in the Andes in South America. Their populations have declined dramatically due to habitat loss.

I met my first Cerulean Warbler at the central drip at Sabine Woods on the afternoon of April 20, 2021.  I had seen on eBird that this bird had been seen there several days before, and I was hopeful I would encounter one, which I did.