Vermivora chrysoptera
The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a striking and critically imperiled New World warbler, immediately recognizable by its bold yellow wing patch, black throat, and black mask set against a slate-gray body and white belly. Measuring approximately 11.5-12.5 cm (4.5-5 in) in length with an 18 cm (7.1 in) wingspan and weighing 8.5-11 g (0.3-0.4 oz), males exhibit more pronounced black markings, while females are duller with gray throat patches and less extensive black masks. Tax...
This warbler breeds in young, early successional deciduous forests, shrublands, and abandoned fields with scattered trees, often near wetlands or forest edges. During winter, it favors humid tropical and subtropical forests, ranging from lowlands up to elevations of 1,500 meters.
Their diet consists predominantly of insects, including caterpillars, beetles, spiders, and flies, gleaned from foliage. They also consume some nectar and sap, especially during migration and on wintering grounds.
Golden-winged Warblers are primarily diurnal, actively foraging throughout the day. They typically glean insects from the undersides of leaves and twigs, sometimes hovering briefly to pluck prey, and have also been observed taking sap from sapsucker wells. Males are highly territorial on breeding...
The Golden-winged Warbler breeds across a fragmented range in eastern North America, extending from southeastern Manitoba and southern Ontario eastward through the Great Lakes states and parts of New England, southward along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. Its...
Near Threatened
- The Golden-winged Warbler is renowned for its hybridization with the Blue-winged Warbler, producing distinct and often confusing hybrid forms known as Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers. - This species has experienced one of the steepest population declines of any North American songbird, with ...