Black-throated Blue Warbler
(Dendroica caerulescens)
Black-throated blue warblers are “forest interior” species, meaning that they require large tracts of deep, unbroken forest—often with hills or mountains—to thrive. For this reason, it is one of many species affected by forest fragmentation. It has a special liking for the rhododendron- and mountain laurel-lined hillsides of the Allegheny Highlands, at the heart of which lies the museum’s banding station.
During breeding season, this debonair little songbird is known for returning not only to the same nesting area year after year, but often to the same shrubs. In its Caribbean wintering grounds, however, the male and female prefer different environments: the male tends to remain in forested habitat at lower elevations, while the female seeks out shrubbier environments at higher elevations.
Black-throated blue warblers are “forest interior” species, meaning that they require large tracts of deep, unbroken forest—often with hills or mountains—to thrive. For this reason, it is one of many species affected by forest fragmentation. It has a special liking for the rhododendron- and mountain laurel-lined hillsides of the Allegheny Highlands, at the heart of which lies the museum’s banding station.
