Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 4.3–4.7 in
11–12 cm - Wingspan
- 6.7–7.9 in
17–20 cm - Weight
- 0.2–0.4 oz
7–11 g
Other Names
- Paruline à gorge noire (French)
- Verdín de pecho negro (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The male Black-throated Green Warbler sings persistently during the breeding season. One individual was observed singing 466 songs in one hour.
- The male Black-throated Green Warbler tends to sing his "zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee" song near the middle of his territory, largely in the beginning of the breeding season to attract females. He sings the "zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-zee" song mostly around the territory's margins, to deter other males.
- A population of the Black-throated Green Warbler is confined to the coastal plain of Virginia and the Carolinas, 500 km (311 mi) east of, and 1,200 m (4000 feet) lower than, Appalachian birds. These slightly smaller birds are different enough to be considered a separate subspecies, and are found breeding in cypress swamps.
Habitat
Forest
Boreal coniferous forest and transitional coniferous-deciduous forest.
Food
Insects
Insects and insect larvae.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 3–5 eggs
- Egg Description
- Whitish with variable brown blotches or speckles.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless with sparse down.
Nest Description
An open cup of twigs, grass, bark, and spider silk, lined with moss, hair, and feathers. Typically located at a fork in tree branches, one to three meters (three to ten feet) from the ground.
Nest Placement
Tree
Behavior
Foliage Gleaner
Gleans from small branches; sometimes hovers and picks prey from leaves and branches.
Conservation
Least Concern
Populations have been stable through the early 1990s. Logging of coniferous forests negatively affects Black-throated Green Warbler populations, but the species does also breed in second-growth coniferous forest.
Credits
- Morse, D. H. 1993. Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens). In The Birds of North America, No. 55 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.