This inhabitant of riparian thickets and brushy clear-cuts and pastures breeds from northeast British Columbia across southern Canada to the east coast and south to Georgia. The main migratory route is east of the Rocky Mountains, but small numbers of transients are reported almost yearly in Oregon.

Spring records are between mid-May and mid-July. There are fewer fall records than in spring most occurring between mid-August and mid-October.

Hear the song of the Chestnut-sided warbler

Photo by Yankech Gary, Flickr