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Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae Chick Type: Altricial Golden-winged Warblers breed in the northeastern US from northern New Hamsphire down south along the Appalachian mountains to the northern tip of Georgia. They are also found in Michigan, Wisconsin, northern Indiana, southeastern Iowa, northeastern half of Minnesota and west to the northeast corner of North Dakota. The species gets into the southerneastern parts and southwestern tip of Ontario and southern half of Manitoba. They migrate each year to wintering grounds in Central America and northern parts of Venezuela, Columbia and Ecuador. Diet consists of a broad range of insects and spiders. This species has been documented to eat deer flies that land on them during bird banding sessions. Breeding habitat consists of early successional habitats, such as clear cut aspen, alder swamps and young regenerating hardwoods. Nests are built barely off the grounds in the base of shrubs. Their habitat was once made by fire, windfalls, and other disturbance, but now most of it is created by clear cutting forests and regenerating abandoned farms. Clutch size is usually around 3 - 6 white colored eggs. Incubation time is 10 - 11 days. Habitat in winter is more varied, and often includes older stands of secondary growth forest. Golden-wings, while still common in some areas, are declining in numbers. Likely causes are habitat loss and hybridization with the closely related Blue-winged Warbler. The Blue-winged Warbler uses similar early successional habitat, but will tolerate slightly older succession than Golden-wings. Where their ranges overlap, the two species interbreed, producing fertile hybrid offspring of various intermediate phenotypes. Once hybridization is occuring in an area, replacement by Blue-wings is typical, in some cases in as little as a few decades. US Fish & Wildlife and many other state agencies consider the Golden-wing a species of concern. Some states are have or are considering management plans or population status assessment for this species, one example is Virginia. |
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