From Opus

Photo by Fernando Cerra
Photo taken: South Padre Island, Texas, USA.
Female

Photo by cgphoto
Photo taken: Acadia National Park, Maine, USA
Male

Dendroica virens

[edit] Identification

Length 4.5-5 inches.
Male:

• Yellow face with broad olive eyestripe
• Throat and sides of upper chest black
• Greenish olive crown, nape, and upperparts with indistinct dark centres
• Dark wings and tail
• Two white wing-bars
  

Female:

• Auriculars washed olive
• Whitish throat and sides of chest mottled black
  

Fall:

• Bright yellow-green face
• Darker ear patch
• Bright green unstreaked back
• Prominent white wing-bars
• Mostly grayish-white underparts
• Blackish streaks down the side
• Only a faint yellow wash below

[edit] Similar Species

In the west, the two most likely confusing species are Townsend’s and Hermit Warblers. Hermit usually has plainer face, greyer back and lacks streaking on the sides. Townsend’s has a more contrasting face, often streaking on the back and usually a much more yellow upper breast.

Either a very dull immature Townsend’s or a Hermit X Townsend’s hybrid are likely to cause the most confusion. In these and all cases the wash of yellow across the vent just behind the legs is diagnostic for Black-throated Green.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds from Saskatchewan east to eastern Quebec and Newfoundland; northern Minnesota and Michigan east to Pennsylvania; also along the Appalachians south to northern Alabama. Waynei subspecies found along the Atlantic coastal plain. Winters east Mexico to central Panama. Also winters in the southern tip of Florida. Rare but regular vagrant in the western United States. Accidental vagrant to Greenland (3 records) and Germany (1 19th century record).

[edit] Taxonomy

Consists of two subspecies.

[edit] Subspecies¹

• D. v. virens - breeds where waynei is not found
• D. v. waynei - breeds in cypress and other swamps of the Atlantic coastal plain

[edit] Habitat

Breeds in open coniferous and mixed forests; also in cypress swamps in the coastal Carolinas. In migration found nearly anywhere where with trees.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Flight

Occasionally hovers whilst feeding.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is an open cup and usually placed in the fork of a tree. Three to five eggs are laid.

[edit] Diet

Diet is mainly insectivorous.

[edit] Vocalisation

Song: A buzzy zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-zee and other variations

[edit] Reference

1. Dunn, Jon; Garrett, Kimball. 1997. A Field Guide to Warblers of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395783214
2. Cornell Lab or Ornithology

[edit] External Links