Setophaga graciae
male
Grace’s Warbler is a southwestern specialty. The sexes are subtly dissimilar. Adult males have blue-gray upperparts with dark streaks on the back and crown, and dark wings with two white wingbars. The face pattern comprises dark ear coverts and lores, and a yellow supercilium and spot below the eye. The throat and breast are yellow, grading to white on the rest of the underparts, with dark streaks on the flanks. Adult females are similar to an adult male, but less colorful and paler overall, and with unstreaked upperparts. Immatures are similar to an adult female but paler still, with browner upperparts and a yellow suffusion on the flanks.
Grace’s Warbler is present as a breeding species, mainly in Arizona and New Mexico, from May to August, where it favors stands of Ponderosa Pines (Pinus ponderosa). It spends the rest of the year in Central America. It often feeds high in the tree canopy, making observation a bit of a challenge.
male
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5 in (12.5 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates
HABITAT Conifer forests
STATUS Local summer visitor
VOICE Song is an accelerating series of chattering notes. Call is a soft chip
