Blue black and white bird with a white wing spot

Customers have been reporting sightings of the Black-throated Blue Warblerat the suet feeders. A common migrant through mid-Michigan May through the beginning of June, these birds are a treat to see!

Males look dark black on top with a white wing spot and white belly. But when the sun hits, the feathers on his back turn a dark blue. The female which is olive brown and tan with a faint black eyebrow, looks very different in appearance from the male.

Black-throated Blue Warblers nest in northern Michigan. We see them in the spring and then they’ll pass through mid-Michigan again mid-August to late September.

The Black-throated Blue Warbler forages in low vegetation, sometimes catching insects in flight. They eat mainly beetles, caterpillars, butterflies and moths, flies, bugs, and spiders.

They build an interesting nest using cobwebs and spit to glue bark together and line it with soft moss, pine needles and animal hair. The nest is usually constructed in a shrub 3ft off the ground in large undisturbed deciduous and mixed-deciduous forests up north.

Listen for their slow, wheezy, rising song of I’m lay-zeeeethroughout the day during migration.

Related Articles:

- Attracting Michigan Songbirds http://goo.gl/Gmn0b

- Do we stop feeding suet in the summer? http://goo.gl/KM80C

- Best field guide for Michigan birds http://bit.ly/vPOMx1

- Warblers in Michigan http://goo.gl/WMMGs

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Category › Bird of the week