Golden-winged Warbler

About the Golden-winged Warbler

The golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a small migratory insectivorous bird in the New World warbler family Parulidae. It breeds in southeastern and south-central Canada and in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeastern to north-central United States. The majority (~70%) of the global population breeds in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba. Golden-winged warbler populations are slowly expanding northwards but are generally declining across its range. This is most likely as a result of habitat loss and competition/interbreeding with the very closely related blue-winged warbler, Vermivora cyanoptera, albeit the latter point has been debated. Populations are now restricted to two regions: the Great Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains.

The golden-winged warbler was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla chrysoptera. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek χρυσοπτερος/khrusopteros meaning "golden-winged", from χρυσος/khrusos meaning "gold" and -πτερος/-pteros meaning "-winged". Linnaeus based his entry on "The golden-winged fly-catcher" that had... Wikipedia →