Bay-Breasted Warbler
Setophaga castanea
About This Species
Look high in the canopy of coniferous and mixed boreal forest, where this warbler gleans insects, including spruce budworm, from needles and twigs, often alongside other warbler species in mixed foraging flocks. It breeds in northern coniferous forest and passes through the rest of North America on migration. Spring and autumn migration, when birds move through in mixed flocks at woodland edges, offer the most accessible viewing.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- As a small migratory songbird it presents little direct disturbance risk from typical birdwatching at a normal distance, but nests in its boreal breeding range should not be approached closely.
- Migratory birds are protected under federal law across its US and Canadian range, so avoid handling, flushing incubating birds, or disturbing nest sites.
LCAvesPasseriformesParulidae
Seasonal Activity
694,799 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Parulidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.