Vermivora chrysoptera
male
The Golden-winged Warbler is a colorful little songbird. The sexes are dissimilar. Adult males have a blue-gray back, nape, and rear of crown, and a yellow forecrown. The blue-gray wings have a bright yellow panel. The head is marked with a black mask and throat, defined by a white supercilium and malar stripe. The pale underparts are suffused blue-gray on the flanks. Adult females are similar to males but black elements of the head pattern are replaced by streaked gray. Immatures are less colorful than their respective adults. All birds have a thin bill and black legs.
The Golden-winged Warbler is present as a breeding species mainly from May to August. It spends the rest of the year in Central America and the Caribbean region. It is an active feeder, searching for insects among the foliage of shrubs and trees. It hybridizes with Blue-winged Warbler.
female
FACT FILE
LENGTH 4.75 in (12 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates
HABITAT Recently colonized wetland scrub
STATUS Widespread but generally scarce and declining summer visitor
VOICE Song is a high-pitched buzzing tzee-dee-dee. Call is a thin tsip
