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MacGillivray's Warbler

Silhouette WarblersWarblers
MacGillivray's WarblerGeothlypis tolmiei
  • ORDER: Passeriformes
  • FAMILY: Parulidae

Basic Description

A furtive songbird of dense brush, MacGillivray’s Warbler is an elegant yellow and gray amid green leaves. Males have a sooty gray hood highlighted with striking white crescents above and below the eye. Don’t look for this species in open forests, but look for it instead in almost any sort of dense thicket, shrubbery, willows, or low tangles along wooded streams. In these areas it forages inside the vegetation, gleaning insects from foliage and from the ground.

More ID Info
image of range map for MacGillivray's Warbler
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
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Find This Bird

Home in on MacGillivray’s Warblers by listening for them in spring and early summer, when males sing loudly in the early morning. Some sing from open perches, but many sing from inside thick cover, where they are more difficult to spot. Sometimes squeaking or making pishing sounds will bring one into view. When this species is not singing, listen for its sharp, distinctive call note.

Other Names

  • Reinita de Tolmie (Spanish)
  • Paruline des buissons (French)
  • Cool Facts