The Cape May Warbler is a small songbird. It has a yellow chest with thin black stripes, reddish and yellow face. The pale sides of the neck contrast with the darker face and wingbars. It also has a yellowish rump. The male breeding plumage has chestnut or orange-brown cheek patches. The rump is bright yellow. It has a large white patch in wing, white under tail. Female breeding plumage has head and back olive-grey. Sides of neck, throat, and breast pale yellow. Streaks on breast and sides narrow and gray. Rump yellow. Two wing bars on each wing. In non breeding plumage , both are duller.

Habitat and Distribution

The Cape May Warbler breeds across the boreal forest of Canada and the northern United States. Its breeding range spans all but the westernmost parts of southern Canada, the Great Lakes region, and New England. It is migratory, wintering in the West Indies.


The bird 's preffered food is spruce budworms. It also eats nectar collected using its unique curled, semitubular tongue. It picks insects from the tips of conifer branches or flies out to catch insects.


Cape May Warblers nest in dense foliage near the trunk of the tree, commonly a Black Spruce, and lay 4 to 9 eggs in a cup nest. This species can lay the largest clutch of any New World warbler.

Calls and Songs

Their song is a simple repetition of high tsi notes. The call is a thin sip. This bird usually sings from high perches.