Six to seven creamy white eggs, heavily marked with reddish-browns, mostly at large end. Female believed to incubate. Both sexes believed to tend young. During fall migration occasionally punctures cultivated grapes and drinks juice, occasionally damaging crop. Feeds heavily on nectar in winter, often defending flowering plants.
Winters s through West Indics.
Rare cowbird host. Compared with other warblers, male very aggressively defends territory, often perching atop conifer and flying out to chase away all other warblers, regardless of species or size. Open boreal coniferous forest, edge, woodland. Se Yukon, ne British Columbia, sw,sc Mackenzie and n Alberta e to Nova Scotia and s to c Alberta, c Saskatchewan, ne N. Dakota, ne Minnesota, n Wisconsin, n Michigan, s Ontario, ne New York and n New England. Winters in Florida, W. Indies, se Mexico, Caribbean C. America and n Venezuela.