5.00 inches long. The Golden-winged Warbler is a striking bird with a gray back and light underparts with gray flanks. The male has a yellow wing patch and black throat that sets it apart from all other warblers. It also has a bright yellow forehead and a black ear patch surrounded by white. Females are similar but duller with the black throat and ear patch replaced by gray. In both sexes white on tail is conspicuous from below.
The Golden-winged Warbler is an occasional to uncommon in migration. It is indeed a very good day when you find this bird in the Forest. It is seen as solitary birds or sometimes in pairs during mid May in the spring and in mid September during the fall.
The Golden-winged Warbler feeds chickadee-like often hanging upside down to find its favorite food, caterpillars. It is an energetic feeder that inspects all sides of branches or foliage. It commonly crossbreeds with the Blue-winged Warbler producing distinct hybrids called Brewster’s and Lawrence’s Warbler. The song is an insect-like “bee-buzz-buzz” but sometimes only “bee-buzz”.
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