Black-throated Blue Warbler

Setophaga caerulescens · Warblers

Black-throated Blue Warbler, head-on

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 27 September 2025

A male Black-throated Blue Warbler looking straight down the lens at the Botanic Garden at the end of September, the black face mask running unbroken into the throat. A bird passing through on its way south, breeding grounds in the mixed forests of the Northeast and Appalachians behind it, the Caribbean still ahead.

It will spend the winter in the same patch of Jamaican or Cuban forest it used last year, and defend it against other warblers.

Black-throated Blue Warbler, in profile

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 27 September 2025

A male Black-throated Blue Warbler in profile at the Botanic Garden at the end of September, slate-blue above and black through the face and throat. He breeds in the mountain forests of the Northeast and winters in the Caribbean, and passes through Brooklyn twice a year on the way.

The one mark hidden here is a small white square at the base of the wing, the "handkerchief", which both sexes carry and which is the only easy way to name the drab olive female - she looks so unlike him that the two were once described as separate species.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 27 September 2025

A male Black-throated Blue Warbler at the Botanic Garden at the end of September, next to a cluster of dogwood berries just turning red. It breeds in the mountain forests of the Northeast and Appalachians and winters in the Caribbean, passing through Brooklyn on the way.

Slate-blue above and black through the throat and face. One of the few warblers where male and female look so different they were once described as separate species, before anyone had watched them long enough to see them pair up. The one thing they share is a small white square at the base of the wing.