By Sally SikoOne of the prettiest birds we’ve got flying around the mountains of western North Carolina during the summer is the Black-throated green Warbler.
It was thrilling to spot so many of these feathered gems during my birding trip last week.
With plumage boldly hued in bright yellow, white and black, they were reasy to spot moving through in dark shadowy green areas of upper canopies in the pines.

Black-throated green Warblers nest across most of the Canadian boreal forest, south to the northeastern states and the entire Appalachian chain.
In addition, they also nest in foothill ranges in the Piedmont, including a far outlier (small) population in the Uwharrie Mountains in the central Piedmont.
During migrational periods they may be found across all parts of our state which makes it relatively easy to tic them off of our list year after year.

These guys are best spotted in high altitude habitats containing conifers or mixed hardwood-coniferous forests spruce-fir, spruce-hardwood forests.
They also favor areas containing White Pine and hemlock mixed with hardwoods.
The Black-throated greens in our Coastal Plain regions are somewhat more particular favoring only sites where Atlantic White Cedar or cypress are mixed with hardwoods, but they may occur in our deciduous forests too if there’s plenty of food to find.

These gorgeous birds will stick around North Carolina until early October so there’s plenty of time for you to get out there and see one before the year is through.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding both captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5