Blue-winged Warbler

Vermivora pinusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Codes: Common Name: BWWA Scientific Name: VERPIN ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178853

Breeding Location:

Grassland with scattered trees, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Uncommon to fairly common

Egg Color:

White with brown and gray flecks

Number of Eggs:

4 - 7

Incubation Days:

10 - 12

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Grasses, dried leaves, and bits of bark with lining of fine grasses.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Blue-winged Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with olive-green upperparts and yellow underparts. Head is yellow with thin black eye line and olive-green nape. Wings are dark gray with two white bars. Female has dull olive-green nape and crown.

Range and Habitat

Blue-winged Warbler: Breeds from Nebraska, central Iowa, southern Wisconsin, southern Ontario, and central New England south through east-central and Atlantic coast states to northern Georgia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include abandoned fields and pastures grown up to saplings; forest clearings and edges with clumps of catbrier, blackberry, and various bushes and young trees.

Breeding and Nesting

Blue-winged Warbler: Four to seven brown and gray flecked white eggs are laid in a grass-lined cup of dead leaves and fibers, and built on or very near the ground in thick undergrowth. Incubation ranges from 10 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Blue-winged Warbler: Diet consists of insects and spiders; forages in trees and shrubs.

Readily Eats

Bread Products, Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces

Vocalization

Blue-winged Warbler: Song is a buzzing "beeee buzzzz", with the second note lower and slightly trilled. A second song is more complex, consisting of buzzing notes followed by a variable number of short musical notes.

Similar Species

Blue-winged Warbler: Occasionally hybridizes with Golden-winged Warbler to produce offspring with characteristics of both parents. Some have mostly white underparts (Brewster's Warbler), while some have the yellow plumage of the Blue-winged, but the dark throat of the Golden-winged (Lawrence's Warbler).

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Blue-winged Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with olive-green upperparts and yellow underparts. The head is yellow with thin black eye line and olive-green nape. Wings are dark gray with two white bars. When its range overlaps with the Golden-winged Warrbler, it often interbreeds with or displaces it.

● Song: "beee-buzzz"

● Foraging & Feeding: Blue-winged Warbler: Diet consists of insects and spiders; forages in trees and shrubs.

● Breeding & nesting: Blue-winged Warbler: Four to seven brown and gray flecked white eggs are laid in a grass-lined cup of dead leaves and fibers, and built on or very near the ground in thick undergrowth. Incubation ranges from 10 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Blue-winged Warbler: Occasionally hybridizes with Golden-winged Warbler to produce offspring with characteristics of both parents. Some have mostly white underparts (Brewster's Warbler), while some have the yellow plumage of the Blue-winged, but the dark throat of the Golden-winged (Lawrence's Warbler).

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flights of short duration.

● Range & Habitat: Blue-winged Warbler: Breeds from Nebraska, central Iowa, southern Wisconsin, southern Ontario, and central New England south through east-central and Atlantic coast states to northern Georgia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include abandoned fields and pastures grown up to saplings; forest clearings and edges with clumps of catbrier, blackberry, and various bushes and young trees.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationUncommon to fairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Eye line

The line of feathers just in front of and behind the eyes. It extends back from the posterior angle of the eye. This can be a useful trait used in identification in the field since it is very noticeable.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America