Setophaga caerulescens
male
The Black-throated Blue Warbler has strikingly different male and female plumages. Adult summer males have mainly dark blue upperparts with blackish wings that show a white patch at the base of the primaries. The blackish tail has white patches on the outer feathers. The face, throat, and flanks are black with a distinct division from the otherwise white underparts. Adult females have dark buffish-brown upperparts, the subtly darker wings showing a white patch at the base of the primaries. The underparts are pale buffish yellow, grading to whitish on the undertail. The head has a pale supercilium and crescent below the eye. Immatures are similar to an adult female, but the pale wing patch is indistinct or absent and the supercilium and eye crescent are less distinct.
The Black-throated Blue Warbler is present as a breeding species in north-central North America mainly from May to August. It spends the rest of the year in the Caribbean region. It often forages for insects in relatively low shrubs, when it is easy to observe.
female
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5.25 in (13.5 cm)
FOOD Mainly invertebrates, but also berries in fall
HABITAT Upland deciduous and mixed forests
STATUS Locally common summer visitor
VOICE Song comprises a series of squeaky zhee-zerr-zhree . . . notes. Call is a sharp tuuk
