Range Map - Song

Description: The Cape May Warbler is mostly bright yellow, with an olive cap, wings, and back. It has a bright yellow breast and stomach which is heavily streaked with black. It has conspicuous white wing patches, as well as chestnut facial patches. Females and immatures are grayish and easily confused with other female or immature warblers.

Habitat/Status: The Cape May Warbler is an uncommon warbler of northern bogs, boreal forests, and mixed forests with tall trees. The four and a half inch Cape May Warbler is distinctive in coloration, though one of the hardest warblers to identify as it typically stays high in the trees.

Range: The Cape May Warbler is only seen in much of the eastern United States during spring or fall migration. Its breeding range extends from eastern and central Canada southwards to northern portions of the Great Lakes States, upstate New York, and Maine. Like most warblers, Cape Mays winter in the tropics.

Diet: Like several other northern warblers, populations of the Cape May Warbler are subject to fluctuations. Scientists believe Cape May Warblers may lay more eggs when an outbreak of the Spruce Budworm occurs. Outbreaks of this tiny insect may occur every ten years or so. In other years, populations of the Cape May Warbler and several other warblers may fall because of an insufficient supply of Spruce Budworms.