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The Golden-winged Warbler is found in old fields and woodland borders along the southern edge of Canada and mainly in Ontario, where it is at the northern limit of its breeding range. The Breeding bird Survey provides good coverage of this species and suggests that the species has shown little change in abundance in Canada since 1970. In contrast, the continental population of Golden-winged Warblers has been declined steadily. Though only a small portion of the Golden-winged Warbler's North American population breeds in Canada, the small northwestern population in Manitoba is of genetic importance. The species was assessed as Threatened in 2007 under the Species At Risk Act based on large decreases in population between 1996 and 2006 (COSEWIC 2006c). This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Though the Golden-winged Warbler's range and abundance increased dramatically over 100 years ago due to logging and clearing of forests for the creation of farmland, it is now declining in several parts of the United States (e.g., Virginia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania; and has disappeared from some previously occupied regions (Confer et al. 2011). Current causes of the decline are thought to be habitat loss due to natural succession on its breeding grounds, competition and hybridization with its sister species (Vallender et al. 2009), the Blue-winged Warbler, as well as the loss of open woodlands and shrubby edges on its wintering grounds in Central and South America, and on the breeding grounds (Confer et al. 2011). The small population found in northwestern Manitoba is of genetic importance as it contains the highest proportion of genetically-pure individuals found throughout the species’ global range. For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to see available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
