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Bay-breasted Warbler

Status Fairly common transient, uncommon in summer. Breeds. First spring migrants generally appear in mid-May (average 15 May, earliest 7 May). This warbler favours rather dense coniferous woods for nesting, and in summer is more common on Cape Breton Island. Migratory waves occur from late August through September, and it is generally last seen in October (average 14 October, latest 20 November).

Description Length: 12.5-15cm. Adult male: Broad black band extending across forehead, through eye to side of neck; light buff patch on sides of neck; crown and nape rich chestnut (chestnut crown is sometimes largely or wholly lacking); back olive brown, striped with black; two white wing bars; throat, breast and sides bright rufous; belly grayish white; legs and feet gray. Adult female: Similar but duller, throat and breast being largely white and sides only slightly washed with rufous.

Breeding A rough but compact structure of twigs and coarse plant stems, lined with fine black rootlets and soft grasses. The usual site is a medium-sized spruce in open coniferous woods, sometimes close to the trunk or perhaps more often saddled on a limb well out from the trunk, at heights of 2-6 m. Eggs: 4-6; white, marked with fine spots of cinnamon-brown of various shades and densities, chiefly around the larger end. On 27 June 1937 I watched a female carrying food to young in a nest at Albany, Annapolis County. The nest was in a large spruce tree about 8 m up, near the end of a long limb, in open evergreen woods. A more recent nest was found in 1969 by John Doyle at Lakelands, Hants County: on 4 June the female had just laid the foundation in a small spruce, close to the trunk, about 2 m up, in open woods; by 10 June the nest was complete but still empty; on 15 June the female was sitting on a full set of four eggs.

Range Breeds from the southeastern Mackenzie Valley, northern Alberta, central Manitoba, south-central Quebec, and Newfoundland, south to central Vermont, northern Michigan and northern Minnesota. Winters in Panama and northern South America.

Remarks This warbler is not normally seen in settled districts except briefly during migration. The male in spring attire with his striking chestnut breast and black face is readily recognized, as is the duller female, but in autumn dress, identification becomes problematic. The adult male still retains traces of brown on his flanks, but females and immatures are quite nondescript and closely resemble immature Blackpoll Warblers. The undertail coverts of the Blackpoll Warbler are pure white but those of the Bay breasted Warbler are slightly buff. The back and head of the Bay-breasted Warbler are more vivid green.

The song of the Bay-breasted is a series of thin, high-pitched notes, quite devoid of melody, which some field observers find difficult to distinguish from the song of the Cape May Warbler.