STATUS: Locally common.
HABITAT: Inhabits openings in deciduous forests or forest edges where there is a dense understory of fortes, grasses, or ferns. Also commonly inhabits damp fields heavily vegetated with thick grass, overgrown pastures, dense scrubby thickets, second-growth woods, and brush-bordered lowland areas. Generally occupies higher and drier areas than the blue-winged warbler, although there is a broad overlap in habitats.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Brushy edge habitats or openings in cover with saplings, forbs, and grasses.
NEST: Nests in loose aggregations or colonies on or close to the ground. Usually locates nest within the shade of a forest edge, supported by weed stalks such as goldenrod, or by tufts of grass, or on a substrate of dead leaves.
FOOD: Gleans insects and spiders chickadeelike, from the ground to tree tops.
REFERENCES: Confer and Knapp 1981, DeGraff et al. 1980, Eyer 1963, Griscom and Sprunt 1979, Johnsgard 1979, Parkes in Farrand 1983c, Tate and Tate 1982.