General
Cape May Warbler: Small warbler with olive-yellow upperparts and thick, black streaks on yellow underparts. Face is bright yellow with chestnut-brown ear patch. Wings are dark with large white patches. Female and juvenile are less yellow overall and do not have bright yellow face, chestnut-brown ear patch, or white wing patches.
Range and Habitat
Cape May Warbler: Breeds from southern Mackenzie, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec south to North Dakota, Michigan, northern New York, Maine, and Nova Scotia. Spends winters in southern Florida and the West Indies. Preferred habitats include open spruce forests, but during migration also found in evergreen or deciduous woodlands, and often parks or suburban yards.
Breeding and Nesting
Cape May Warbler: Six to nine gray or brown spotted, creamy white eggs are laid in a bulky, compact, twig-and-moss nest lined with grass, fur, and feathers. Incubation ranges from 11 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.
Foraging and Feeding
Cape May Warbler: Diet consists mostly of caterpillars, spruce budworms, ants, flies, small bees, spiders, and crickets; also drinks juices of grapes by poking a hole in the grape with bills. Sometimes catches insects on the wing.
Readily Eats
Bread Products, Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces
Vocalization
Cape May Warbler: Song is four or more high thin notes without change in pitch or volume, "seet-seet-seet-seet."
Similar Species
Cape May Warbler: Yellow-rumped Warbler has more blurry streaks on breast, brighter yellow rump, and thicker bill. Palm Warbler has yellow undertail coverts and consistently wags tail.