Species
Blue-winged warbler
Vermivora cyanoptera
A bright yellow warbler with blue-grey wings and a black eye-line, nesting in shrubby clearings in north Georgia.
Photo Unknown photographer (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC0 1.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 11 to 12 cm long
- Weight
- About 8 to 10 g
- Habitat
- Shrubby fields and forest edges
- Diet
- Insects and spiders
- In Georgia
- A summer resident in the north; a migrant elsewhere
- Voice
- A buzzy "beee-bzzz"
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Bright yellow body; blue-grey wings with white wing bars; thin black line through the eye
- Told apart from
- Prothonotary warbler, which has no eye-line and no wing bars
- Where to look
- Shrubby clearings in spring
Behaviour
Blue-winged warblers forage in shrubs, sometimes hanging upside down to probe leaves.
Why they matter
Blue-winged warblers hybridise with golden-winged warblers, producing birds called Brewster's and Lawrence's warblers. Their spread has contributed to the golden-winged's decline.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A cup on or near the ground
Eggs — Usually four or five
Incubation — About 10 to 11 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Lifespan — Several years
Living around people
- Shrubby old fields support them.
Misconceptions
- Hybrid warblers are separate species. Brewster's and Lawrence's warblers are hybrids.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | In Central America | In Central America | In Central America | Arriving | Nesting | Nesting | Young fledging | Migrating | Last migrants | In Central America | In Central America | In Central America |
Where it lives
Recorded in 46 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
- Alabamapassing through
- Arkansasbreeding
- Connecticutbreeding
- Delawarepassing through
- District of Columbiapassing through
- Floridapassing through
- Georgiabreeding
- Illinoisbreeding
- Indianabreeding
- Iowabreeding
- Kentuckybreeding
- Louisianapassing through
- Mainebreeding
- Marylandbreeding
- Massachusettsbreeding
- Michiganbreeding
- Minnesotabreeding
- Mississippipassing through
- Missouribreeding
- New Hampshirebreeding
- New Jerseybreeding
- New Yorkbreeding
- North Carolinapassing through
- Ohiobreeding
- Pennsylvaniabreeding
- Rhode Islandbreeding
- South Carolinapassing through
- South Dakotabreeding
- Tennesseebreeding
- Texaspassing through
- Vermontbreeding
- Virginiabreeding
- West Virginiabreeding
- Wisconsinbreeding
If you found one
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