Acadia National Park

Description  ADULT MALE Has mostly olive-green upperparts, including nape and rear of crown, grading to speckled black on forecrown. Black markings on face ("mask" and border to throat) are emphasized by broad yellow supercilium and area just behind and partially below eye ("broken spectacles" effect) and yellow throat; rest of underparts are also yellow. Legs are pink. ADULT FEMALE Similar, but black elements of head pattern are paler and less extensive. IMMATURE Recalls adult female, but blackish elements of head pattern are almost entirely replaced by dark olive.

Dimensions  Length: 5 1/2" (14 cm)

Habitat  Locally fairly common summer visitor (mainly May-Aug) to waterside deciduous forests; winters in Central and South America.

Observation Tips  A challenge to see, given its furtive nature and relative inaccessibility of its favored breeding habitat.

Range  California, Florida, Mid-Atlantic, Texas, Eastern Canada, Southwest, Plains, New England, Southeast, Great Lakes

Voice  Song is a series of rich, shrill whistles: tsee'up, tsee'up, tsee'up, tsee'up; call is a soft tchup.

Discussion  Secretive, plump, and short-tailed warbler that is easier to hear than to observe. Once seen, however, distinctive appearance makes identification straightforward. Sexes are similar, but separable.

Migration Info  This ground-dwelling species prefers forest situations with a moist understory and is found in both primary and secondary growth during winter. Winter populations are most abundant on the Caribbean slope of Central America. Both males and females appear to be highly territorial during winter and have been shown to return to the same locations year after year. Migration is across the Gulf of Mexico; after the crossing, migrants usually stop over along the U.S. Gulf coast for three days before continuing north.