Wood-Warblers

Blackpoll Warbler, Dendroica townsendi

Family Parulidae (Wood-Warblers)

Size: 5.5"

Season: Summer

Habitat: Spruce and fir forests

The blackpoll warbler is a common warbler of high-altitude forests that makes a very long migration to wintering grounds in South America. The breeding male is streaked gray and black above with distinct white wing bars; it is white below with black streaking. The head is white on the face and capped with black, and the legs are yellow. Females and nonbreeding males are paler overall, grayish or olive green above, washed with buff or yellowish below, and lacking a dark cap. Blackpoll warblers feed on insects in foliage often high in trees, making them sometimes difficult to spot, and voice extremely high-pitched, dry, repeated sit notes. The breeding male (bottom) and breeding female (top) are illustrated.