Blackburnian Warbler

Setophaga fusca

Throat the color of a struck match, glowing at the top of the canopy. Your message is delivered by a flame.

Population: ~5.6 million mature individuals (Partners in Flight estimate)
Habitat: Mature coniferous and mixed deciduous-coniferous forest canopy (especially spruce and hemlock) for breeding; tropical montane forest (including shade-coffee plantations) in the Andes, roughly 600-2,500 m elevation, for wintering
Fun fact: The breeding male's fiery orange throat and face, set off by a black-and-white body, is unlike any other North American warbler — "no other North American warbler has an orange throat" — and the oldest banded individual on record lived at least 8 years, 2 months.
Range: Breeds across southern Canada and the northeastern/north-central US south through the Appalachians to North Carolina; winters mainly in the Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru (occasionally Panama and the Amazon); rare vagrant to Greenland, Iceland, Scotland/UK, and the Azores
Diet: Insectivorous (about 98% of diet) — gleans caterpillars (especially spruce budworm and other Lepidoptera larvae), other insects, and some spiders from high forest foliage; eats some berries on wintering grounds
Size: 0.12 m
Wingspan: 0.21 m
Lifespan: 8 years

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