STATUS: Uncommon.
HABITAT: Generally inhabits rich, damp woodlands with deep shade and dense undergrowth, including wooded swamps and canebrakes of lowlands and, locally, rhododendron thickets of the mountains.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Dense underbrush.
NEST: Builds a large bulky nest, usually 2 to 6 feet above the ground. In coastal lowlands, commonly nests in cane or palmetto; in highlands, nests in shrubs, small trees, vines, briars, rhododendron, or laurel. Sometimes parasitized by cowbirds.
FOOD: Consumes primarily insects and spiders found in leaves on the ground, but occasionally searches for food in low shrubs.
REFERENCES: Harrison 1975, Meanley 1966, 1971.