The Black-throated Green Warbler brings together a bright yellow face, an olive-green back, and a jet-black throat and upper breast into one of the most cleanly patterned warblers in the northern woods. It forages methodically through the mid-to-upper canopy of mature conifers, and its buzzy, drowsy song — usually written "zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee" or "trees, trees, murmuring trees" — is one of the classic background sounds of a Michigan hemlock forest on a summer morning.
It breeds in mature coniferous and mixed forests across northern Michigan, showing a strong attachment to hemlock, and passes through the southern part of the state as a common migrant in spring and fall. The persistent, easily learned song makes it far easier to detect than to spot among the dense needles. In fall it heads for wintering grounds stretching from Mexico and Central America into the Caribbean and northern South America.
Gleans caterpillars, insects, and spiders from conifer needles and foliage in the mid and upper canopy, occasionally hovering or flycatching. It works deliberately along branches and is closely associated with hemlock and other conifers on its breeding grounds.
Listen for a lazy, buzzy phrase often written as "zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee" or "trees, trees, murmuring trees." The drowsy, insect-like quality and steady repetition make it one of the more memorable warbler songs.
In mature coniferous and mixed forests, especially those with hemlock, mainly in the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. Farther south it occurs as a spring and fall migrant.
A bright yellow face set against an olive crown and back, with a solid black throat and upper breast and white wing bars. The combination is distinctive among Michigan warblers.
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