Golden-cheeked Warbler

Dendroica chrysopariaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

General

Golden-cheeked Warbler: Medium-sized warbler with black upperparts and white underparts with thick black streaks on sides. Head has black cap and throat, bright yellow face, and dark eye-line. Wings are dark with two white bars. Female is duller with olive-green upperparts, streaked cap, and white throat. Rare in central Texas.

Range and Habitat

Golden-cheeked Warbler: Breeds in south-central Texas, in oak-juniper woodlands; loss of this habitat has resulted in the species being placed on the U.S. Endangered Species List. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include rocky hillsides covered with juniper.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"bzzz-layzee-dayzee", "tweeah-tweeah-tweesy"

Interesting Facts

The Golden-cheeked Warbler is the only bird species with a breeding range confined to Texas.
It is one of the most at-risk species in North America.
They are endangered because many tall juniper and oak woodlands have been cleared to build houses, roads, and stores. Some habitat was cleared to grow crops or grass for livestock. Other habitat areas were flooded when large lakes were built.
A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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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.

Golden-cheeked Warbler

Golden-cheeked Warbler: Medium warbler, black upperparts, white underparts with thick black streaks on sides. Head has black cap and throat, bright yellow face, and black eye-line. Wings are dark with two white bars. black bill, legs and feet. The only bird with a breeding range confined to Texas.

● Song: "bzzz-layzee-dayzee", "tweeah-tweeah-tweesy"

● Foraging & Feeding: Golden-cheeked Warbler: Eats beetles, caterpillars, deer flies, and spiders; forages in trees and shrubs.

● Breeding & nesting: Golden-cheeked Warbler: Three to five white eggs with brown and gray spots and flecks are laid in a cup of bark strips, grass, and cobwebs, and built in a juniper. Eggs are incubated for approximately 12 days by the female.

● Similar species: Golden-cheeked Warbler: Black-throated Green and Townsend's warblers have darker cheeks without distinct eye-lines.

Flight Pattern

Weak flight on rapidly beating wings.

Golden-cheeked Warbler Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Golden-cheeked Warbler: Breeds in south-central Texas, in oak-juniper woodlands; loss of this habitat has resulted in the species being placed on the U.S. Endangered Species List. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include rocky hillsides covered with juniper.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationEndangered in limited range in U.S., Rare

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America