Field Marks: 4.75 in. A small, ground-nesting summer redident of burnt-over areas, second-growth woods, and thickets in boreal forests; often in groves of aspen or birch. Forages high in trees and sings frequently. Adults of both sexes have prominent white eye-ring, gray crown and sides of head, olive upperparts, and yellow throat and underparts. Breeding males brighter than females. Eastern birds tend to be more yellow below; western birds less so, with white belly. Song a high-pitched, trilled pattern of single or double notes, sometimes ascending the scale.
Range: Breeds from s. British Columbia across s. Canada to Nova Scotia, south to central California, n. Utah, Great Lakes region, and n. West Virginia. Winters from California, s. Texas, and s. Florida south to Central America.