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The Blue-Winged Warblers (Vermivora pinus), also called wood-warblers (Dunn, 1997), were once only found west of the Appalachian Mountains. In the 1800s they moved east into Pennsylvania and New York (Askins, 2011). The Blue winged warbler was once called “Blue-winged Golden Tit” because of its scavenging habits (Earley, 2003). In the summer they can be found in Southern Ohio, Illinois, Northern Kentucky, and Southern Iowa (Chapman, 1914). They usually occupy drier habitats (Ficken & Ficken, 1968).
Blue–wings are 11-12 cm in length with a wingspan of 15 cm. They weigh 9 g (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology). The male Blue–wing in the spring has an all yellow head, olive-green nape, black eyeliner, olive-green back and rear end, and bluish-grey wings (Earley, 2003). The female shares the same characteristics as the male only she has a duller yellow crown and a darker eye line (Earley, 2003). Other features include white wing bars, a yellow breast and belly, white under tail coverts, white tail spots, and dark legs (Earley, 2003).
The warblers usually breed in red oak, locust, walnut, or elm trees (Dunn, 1997). Breeding of the birds was first observed as far north as Vermont in 1976 and in Maine in 1980 (Dunn, 1997). Yet they breed more frequently in more southern locations like in Ohio, Southern Michigan, Minnesota, etc. (Parkes, 1951).
Their call note is a sharp “tsik” or “swik” while their flight note is high sounding like “buzzy tzzii” (Donn, 1997). Their most common song is the sound of buzzy bees (“Buzzzzzz”) (Earley, 2003). Blue-winged warblers use visual cues more than auditory cues to distinguish between closely related species (Gill & Lanyon, 1964). Male warblers sing different songs in eastern New York and western Massachusetts(Kroodsma, Meservey, Whitlock, & VanderHaegn, 1984).
The female warbler lays 2-7 eggs which are usually white with small brown spots and grey near the larger end (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology). The average size of an egg is 15.7 by 12.5 millimeters. Eggs are laid everyday until the female is done with her clutch. Incubation can take up to 11 days (Bent, 1953.). The nests are built by the female and are made of grass and dead leaves (National Audubon Society). The nests are well concealed and located low to the ground (National Audubon Society). Since the 19th century, many farms in the eastern United States have been abandoned leaving fields that are ideal habitats for blue-winged warblers (Askins, 2000).
Blue-winged warblers eat insects such as moths, crickets, spiders, etc. along with abundant insect larvae (National Audubon Society). They search by hanging upside down, poking through dense branches and vines searching for insects (National Audubon Society). Hunting upside down helps to conceal them from potential predators. They may be preyed upon by small mammals and feral cats ( National Audubon Society).
During migration blue-winged warblers flock with several other species of warblers (Dunn,1997). Migration in the fall can start mid to early August and for the spring (after they have overwintered near the Gulf Coast) by the last week of March (Dunn, 1997). In the Point Pelee National Park, located in Ontario, Canada, blue-wings are seen in April through May and August through September (Earley, 2003). As for winter, it is rare for them to migrate in the U.S. (Dunn, 1997).
Annually the Blue winged warbler have decreased 4.4% in the south (Confer & Tupper, 2000). Since 1698 they have decreased 66% (Osgood, 2016). In the state of Connecticut, from 1966 to 2005, they have declined at a rate of 3.4% per year (Askins, 2011). In 1983, only 7 blue winged warblers were recovered and reported by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service Bird Banding Laboratory (Adam & Wood). The recovery rate is less than 0.1% and that low level is not unusual for the warblers (Adam & Wood).
On April 6, 1984 an adult female was the first recovery for the species in Southern Belize, Central America (Adam & Wood). On June 3, 1990 in New Jersey a blue winged warbler was banded. This warbler was a 9 year old male. They encountered with the bird when he was recaptured on June 6, 1998 in New Jersey (U.S. Department of the Interior). In 2002, blue-winged warblers were put on the Audubon extinction watch list (Askins, 2011).
Ten blue and golden winged warblers from New York were analyzed leading to the conclusion that they look 99.97% alike (Osgood, 2016). Based on this research, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, determined that blue-winged warblers and golden-winged warblers are almost identical with only slight differences in feather color and pattern (Osgood, 2016). These two warblers stretch across the eastern United States (Koonce, 2004) and hybridize in parts of eastern North America (Parkes, 1951). Blue winged warblers and Golden winged warblers have coexisted in Hudson Highlands, located in New York, for over a century (Confer & Tupper, 2000). When they interbreed they create two hybrids called Brewster’s Warbler and Lawrence’s Warbler (Osgood, 2016). Brewster’s warblers are a blue-winged authoritative while Lawrence’s warblers are a golden winged authoritative (Parkes, 1951). In Hartstown, Pennsylvania on June 6, 1922 a nest was found with two Brewster’s warblers and three eggs (Parkes, 1951).
Brewster’s warblers express dominant traits while Lawrence’s warbler express recessive traits (Osgood, 2016). For example, the Brewster’s warbler hybrid is very common (F1)(Wilson Bulletin, Parkes, 1951). If F1 interbreeding occurs a very rare recessive hybrid appears – Lawrence’s Warbler (Wilson Bulletin, Parkes 1951). To tell if it’s Brewster’s warbler it has a light yellow colored body without a black throat. As for Lawrence’s warbler it has a yellow (more vibrant) colored body with a black throat (Osgood, 2016). In 1974, Blue winged warblers were reported to be more abundant in Virginia (along with hybrids) (Adkisson & Campbell, 1977). Yet the population of the golden winged warbler decreases usually when the blue winged warblers comes around because of competition and hybridization (Alvey, Barnes, & Confer). Blue winged warblers also go to areas where golden winged warblers have claimed (Ficken & Ficken, 1968 ). It was recorded that a blue wing sung on the 18th and 19th and on the 21st a golden wing female sung leading the male fleeing from the nest, this happened every time (Confer & Tupper, 2000). Although the blue wing flees its song is important because it builds an relationship between the golden winged warbler (Gill & Lanyon, 1964 ).
General References:
Blue-winged Warbler. All About Birds. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. 2015.
Askins, Robert A. Restoring North America’s Birds. Yale University, 2000.
Askins, Robert A. “The future of Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers in Connecticut.” Connecticut Woodlands 76. 2011.
Bent, Arthur Cleveland. Life histories of North American wood warblers; order Passeriformes. e-book, Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1953.
Blue-Winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus) Guidance for Conservation. Audubon. National Audubon Society. 2009.
Chapman, Frank M. The warblers of North America 2d ed., New York, 1914.
Dunn, Jon L. A field guide to warblers of North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997.
Earley, Chris G. Warblers of The Great Lakes Region & Eastern North America. Firefly Book, 2003.
Osgood, Melissa., “Warbler genomes look to be 99.97 percent alike.” Media Relation Office, 23 August 2016.
Parkes, Kenneth C. “The Genetics of the Golden-winged X Blue-winged warbler Complex.” Wilson Bulletin. Vol. 63, No. 1, 1951.
USGS. Longevity Records of North American Birds. U.S. Department of the Interior, 2016.
Scientific References:
Adam, J Raymond Jr., and Scott D. Wood. “First Central American Recovery of Blue-
Winged Warbler.” Journal of Field Ornithology 56.4 (1985): 424-425.
Adkisson, Curtis S., and Scott S. Campbell. “An Unusual Interaction between Blue-Winged
and Golden-Winged Warblers in Virginia.” The Auk 94.3 (1977): 588-90.
Alvey, Erin C., Kevin W Barnes., and John L. Confer, “Golden- and Blue-Winged Warbler:
Distribution, Nesting Success, and Genetic Differences in Two Habitats.” The Wilson
Journal of Ornithology 22.2 (2010): 273-278.
Confer, John L., and Shelagh K. Tupper. “A Reassessment of the Status of Golden-Winged
and Blue-Winged Warblers in the Hudson Highlands of Southern New York.” The Wilson
Bulletin (2000): 544-46.
Ficken, Robert W., and Millicent S. Ficken. “Ecology of Blue-winged Warblers, Golden-
winged Warblers and Some Other Vermivora.” The American Midland Naturalist 79.2 (1968):
311-319.
Gill, Frank B., and Wesley E. Lanyon. “Experiments on Species Discrimination in Blue-
Winged Warblers.” The Auk 81.1 (1964): 53-64.
Gill, Frank B., and Wesley E. Lanyon. “Spectrographic analysis of variation in the songs of a
population of blue-winged warblers (Vermivora pinus).” American Museum Novitates 2176
(1964):2-17.
Koonce, Alexander E., “The Role of Juvenile Dispersal in The Replacement of Golden-
Winged Warblers by Blue-Winged Warblers.” Natural Resource Modeling 18.4 (2004): 537-
547.
Kroodsma, Donald E., W. Roger Meservey, Alison L. Whitlock, and W. Matthew
VanderHaegen. “Blue-Winged Warblers (Vermivora Pinus) “Recognize” Dialects in Type II
but Not Type I Songs.” Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 15.2 (1984): 127-131.
Parkes, Kenneth C. “The Genetics of the Golden-Winged × Blue-Winged Warbler Complex.”
The Wilson Bulletin 63.1 (1951): 5-15.
Image Gallery
- Blue-winged warbler in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (C. Eliot)
Flickr. Yahoo. Eliot, Christopher. 2014. Web. 25 September 2016 < https://flic.kr/p/nvfKAj >
(Use via Creative Commons)
- Blue-Winged Warbler( facing right) (T. World)
- Blue-Winged Warbler (w/ beak open) (T. World)
Flickr. Yahoo. World, Tommy P. 2014. Web. 25 September 2016
(Use via Creative Common)
- Blue-winged Warbler (looking up) (W. Wander)
Wikimedia Common. Wiki. Wander, Wolfgang. 2006. Web. 24 September 2016
< https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue-winged_Warbler.jpg#filelinks >
( Use via Creative Common)