Click photo to see complete painting

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Status Uncommon in summer. Breeds. It generally arrives in mid-May (average 14 May, earliest 28 April); an individual on Brier Island on 11 April 1981 (W. Lent) was clearly not a normal migrant. During the nesting season, this warbler is found mainly in dense hardwoods or mixed growth. Numbers of migrants are seen in September, and stragglers occur through October (average of last sightings 15 October, latest 3 November).

Description Length: 12.5-14 cm. Adult male: Upperparts slaty blue; throat, breast and sides black; lower breast and belly white; wing has a distinct white spot at base of primary coverts; outer tail feathers show white near ends. Adult female: Very different; brownish-olive above; yellowish white stripe over eye; cheek dark brown; underparts buffy or yellowish white; wing shows white patch as in male but reduced in size.

Breeding Nest: A beautiful structure of fine grasses, plant down, bits of lichen and shreds of other pliable vegetable matter, neatly and compactly woven together and lined with fine black rootlets. It is covered on the outside with bits of white birch bark held in place by cobwebs. The birch bark gives a ragged effect and probably is placed there as camouflage. I have examined only three nests: all were built in small fir seedlings growing in clumps in well-shaded woods of heavy growth, with conifers predominating, and were within a metre of the ground.

Eggs: 4; dull white, with brown markings of various densities chiefly around the larger end. The nests cited were all located in a remote area near Black River Lake, Kings County. The first, discovered on 11 June 1905, contained no eggs but had a finished appearance and the female promptly arrived on the scene and scolded. When visited again about a week later, it was still empty, with no bird in attendance, the pair apparently having deserted because of the previous disturbance. On 17 June of that year a nest containing four fresh eggs was found in the same general area; it was collected and later acquired by the National Museum of Canada (H.F. Tufts). The third nest, found on 29 June 1915, contained young being fed by both parents. Harry Brennan found a nest of this species at Springville, Pictou County, on 19 June 1966 in a small fir in well-shaded woods, about 30 cm from the ground. It contained four eggs and, according to custom, was covered exteriorly with bits of white birch bark.

Range Breeds from central Ontario, southern Quebec, and the Maritimes, south in the mountains to northern Georgia, and to southern Ontario and central Minnesota. Winters in the Florida Keys, Bahamas and Greater Antilles.

Remarks There are notable variations in the song of this beautiful woodland warbler, but the one which is perhaps most common is, to my ear, absolutely lacking in melody and unlike that of any other bird found here. It is a short song consisting of three to five (usually three) husky notes, zee-zee-zee-e-e, given deliberately and usually with a rising slurred inflection at the end, all notes in the same pitch. Once heard and associated with the sleek little performer, it will be long remembered.

The difference in the colour patterns of the male and female in summer is noteworthy. Though the male in most warbler species is the brighter of the two, there is usually a marked similarity between them, but here we have two birds so unlike in appearance that the casual observer would think they belonged to different species.

The striking plumage of the male in spring is not readily mistaken for that of any other species. Spring females and young in autumn are less distinctive, but usually the white spot at the base of the primary coverts can be seen.