Black-throated Gray Warbler

Dendroica nigrescensOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Breeding Location:

Forest edge, Scrub vegetation areas

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common to common

Egg Color:

White with purple and brown spots and blotches

Number of Eggs:

4 - 5

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Plant fibers, grasses, weed stalks, with lining of feathers, animal hair, mosses, and flower stems.

Migration:

Migratory

Overview

Black-throated Gray Warbler: Small warbler, black-marked, slate-gray upperparts, black streaks on flanks, white underparts. Head has black hood and throat, sharply contrasting white eyebrow and cheek stripe, and yellow spot in front of eye. Wings are dark with two white bars. Black bill, legs, feet.

Range and Habitat

Black-throated Gray Warbler: Breeds from southern British Columbia (except Vancouver Island), Washington, Idaho, and Colorado southward. Spends winters in the southwest U.S. and Mexico. Preferred habitats include shrubby openings in coniferous forests or mixed woods, dry scrub oak, pinyon and juniper, chaparral, and other low brushy areas.

Breeding and Nesting

Black-throated Gray Warbler: Four to five white eggs, with brown and purple spots and blotches, are laid in a tightly woven plant-fiber cup in a bush or tree, usually less than 10 feet above the ground. Eggs are incubated for approximately 12 days by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Black-throated Gray Warbler: Feeds mainly on insects such as moths, butterflies, beetles, and ants. Also eats leaf galls and a few spiders.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Fruit, Nut Pieces

Vocalization

Black-throated Gray Warbler: Song is a series of buzzes, rising in pitch and intensity, and then falling: "zee zee zee zee bzz bzz." Call is a dull "tup."

Similar Species

Black-throated Gray Warbler: Black-and-white Warbler has more heavily streaked breast, striped crown, and prefers to forage on trunks and main branches of trees rather than in leaves and smaller twigs.

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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.

Black-throated Gray Warbler

● Song: "weezy- weezy-weezy- weezy- wueeo"

● Foraging & Feeding: Black-throated Gray Warbler: Feeds mainly on insects such as moths, butterflies, beetles, and ants. Also eats leaf galls and a few spiders.

● Breeding & nesting: Black-throated Gray Warbler: Four to five white eggs, with brown and purple spots and blotches, are laid in a tightly woven plant-fiber cup in a bush or tree, usually less than 10 feet above the ground. Eggs are incubated for approximately 12 days by the female.

● Similar species: Black-throated Gray Warbler: Black-and-white Warbler has more heavily streaked breast, striped crown, and prefers to forage on trunks and main branches of trees rather than in leaves and smaller twigs.

Flight Pattern

Weak flight on rapidly beating wings.

Black-throated Gray Warbler Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Black-throated Gray Warbler: Breeds from southern British Columbia (except Vancouver Island), Washington, Idaho, and Colorado southward. Spends winters in the southwest U.S. and Mexico. Preferred habitats include shrubby openings in coniferous forests or mixed woods, dry scrub oak, pinyon and juniper, chaparral, and other low brushy areas.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common to common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America