The Golden-winged Warbler is one of the most sought-after and most threatened songbirds of the Upper Midwest, a crisply patterned bird with a yellow crown and wing patch, clean gray upperparts, white underparts, and a striking black-and-white face bearing a black throat and mask. Its buzzy song — a "bee-bzz-bzz-bzz" with one clear introductory note followed by lower buzzes — drifts from the shrubby fields and brushy wetlands where it breeds. Michigan lies within an important part of its shrinking range.
The species has declined steeply and is assessed as Near Threatened, squeezed by the loss of the young, shrubby habitat it needs and by its complicated relationship with the closely related Blue-winged Warbler. Where the two overlap, they hybridize extensively and the Blue-winged tends to replace the Golden-winged over time, so the Golden-winged persists best in areas — including parts of northern Michigan — where Blue-wingeds are scarce. Conservation efforts now focus on creating and maintaining the early successional habitat both the warbler and other shrubland birds require.
Gleans caterpillars, insects, and spiders from foliage, often probing dead leaf clusters and curled leaves while hanging acrobatically, chickadee-like, to extract hidden prey. It forages in shrubs and young trees in the brushy habitats where it breeds.
It has lost much of the young, shrubby habitat it needs, and where its range overlaps the closely related Blue-winged Warbler, hybridization and competition tend to replace it. These pressures have made it Near Threatened and a high conservation priority.
The Golden-winged is gray above and white below with a yellow crown and wing patch and a black-and-white face with a black throat. The Blue-winged is mostly bright yellow with blue-gray wings and a thin black eye-line. Their songs also differ.
In young shrubby fields, brushy wetland edges, and regenerating openings, especially in areas of northern Michigan where Blue-winged Warblers are uncommon. Listen for its buzzy "bee-bzz-bzz-bzz" song.
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