Bird Biographies

by Alice Eliza Ball

6. THE BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER

Length: About 5 inches.

Male: Olive-green above; dull black patch below eye, encircled with a broad rim of yellow; throat and breast black, becoming yellowish-white on the belly; sides streaked with black; wings with two whitish bars; tail with outer feathers largely white.

Female: Similar to male; black of throat and breast mottled with yellow, streaks on sides less conspicuous.

Song: An insect-like trill, zee-zee? ze-ze-zee?

Habitat: Coniferous woods preferably.

Range: North America, from central Canada to northern Ohio and Long Island and in the Alleghany Mts., to Georgia and South Carolina; winters from Mexico to Panama.

For three summers I heard the persistent buzzing of this little Black-throat in the Maine woods before I was able to catch more than a fleeting glimpse of him. He is very shy and elusive. An opportunity to see this beautiful little jeweled bird at close range is an event to bird-lovers. He is an industrious gleaner of small insects from dark pine and spruce forests.