Magnolia Warbler

A crisp wee-ta pattern repeats twice, then snaps into a brighter wee-tee-a finish.

Long-distance migrant. Breeds across Canada’s boreal belt and the northern tier of the United States; winters from southern Mexico through Central America to the Caribbean.

Breeds in thick second-growth spruce, fir, and pine stands, often with a shrubby understory; during migration it frequents a wider variety of habitats, including deciduous woods, hedgerows, parks, and coastal scrub.

Arrives on breeding grounds from early May; peaks in migration mid-May and mid-September; nesting June–July with single broods; departs by early October.

The Magnolia Warbler is a small, strikingly patterned wood-warbler famed for its bold black streaking over a sunshine-yellow belly and its showy tail that flashes white in flight. Although the name suggests an affinity with magnolia trees, the species was merely first described from one; its true stronghold is in dense, young coniferous forests of the North and boreal edge.