Bay-breasted Warbler

Setophaga castanea

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesForestCup nestTiny · 12 g

What the Bay-breasted Warbler sounds like

Sonogram of the Bay-breasted Warbler: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Doug Hynes · Call, song · Qame'k (Seal Island), Kespukwitk, Nova Scotia, Canada · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

Adult males in breeding plumage are primarily greyish above, with two white wing bars, dark streaks on the back, and a creamy neck patch. The face is black, and the crown, throat, and sides are a dark chestnut colour. Breeding females are similar in overall pattern to the males, but are paler and duller. In the nonbreeding season, both sexes gain olive-green feathers on the back, nape, and head. The rufous on the flanks is limited and may even fade away entirely in nonbreeding females. The two white wing bars are present in all plumages.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Bay-breasted Warbler

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 4 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Bay-breasted Warbler

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 24 countries with regular records, and 3 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in Portugal, United Kingdom, Curaçao.

About the Bay-breasted Warbler

The bay-breasted warbler is a small species of songbird in the New World warbler family, Parulidae. It is one of 35 species in the diverse genus Setophaga. Like all songbirds, or passerines, the species is classified in the order Passeriformes.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Bay-breasted Warbler vs Cape May Warbler · Bay-breasted Warbler vs Prairie Warbler · Bay-breasted Warbler vs Black-throated Grey Warbler

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