Family: Parulidae, Wood Warblers view all from this family
Description 4 1/2" (11 cm). Yellow head; black chin and throat; gray back; white underparts with black-streaked flanks. Gray wings and tail, with white wing bars and outer tail feathers. Female and immature have little or no dark on throat; gray of back extends to top of crown. No other western warbler is as white underneath.
Habitat Mature coniferous forests.
Nesting 3-5 creamy-white eggs, speckled and wreathed with light brown markings, in a neat shallow cup nest of rootlets, bark, and pine needles, "saddled" on a conifer branch, usually 20-40' (6-12 m) high, but occasionally near the ground.
Range Breeds from Washington to northern California and Sierra Nevada. Winters south of U.S.-Mexico border.
Voice A series of high notes, somewhat less buzzy than the song of a Townsend's Warbler; recalls Yellow Warbler song in pattern but less emphatic. Call is a soft chup.
Discussion This species lives high in the canopy of the tallest redwoods and Douglas firs and is therefore difficult to observe. Occasionally it has been found to hybridize with Townsend's Warbler. The similarity in their songs indicates that the two species are close relatives.
