Blue-winged Warbler

The Blue-winged Warbler, Vermivora pinus, is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America in southern Ontario and the eastern USA. Its range is extending northwards, where it is replacing the very closely related Golden-winged Warbler, Vermivora chrysoptera.

It is migratory, wintering in southern Central America. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, with one bird wandering to Ireland.

The breeding male Blue-winged Warbler is unmistakable. It is yellow above and below. The wings are gray with two white bars, and there is a black eye stripe. Females are duller, but otherwise similar.

The breeding habitat is open scrubby areas. Blue-winged Warblers nest on the ground or low in a bush, laying 4-7 eggs in a cup nest.

These birds feed on insects, and spiders.

The song is a series of buzzing notes. The call is a sharp chip.

This species forms two distinctive hybrids with Golden-winged Warbler. The commoner, genetically dominant Brewster's Warbler is gray above and whitish (male) or yellow (female below. It has a black eye stripe and two white wing bars.

The rarer recessive Lawrence's Warbler has a male plumage which is green and yellow above and yellow below, with white wing bars and the same face pattern as male Golden-winged. The female is gray above and whitish below with two yellow wing bars and the same face pattern as female Golden-winged.

Reference

New World Warblers by Curson, Quinn and Beadle, ISBN 0-7136-3932-6