The habitats it prefers are coniferous and mixed forests and scrubland, especially those with pinyon pines, junipers, sagebrush, and oaks.

Its nest is an open cup of plant fibers lined with feathers, built a few metres from the ground in the branches of a tree or shrub.

Common in its breeding range, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.

The black-throated gray warbler was first described by John Kirk Townsend from a specimen collected near today's Portland, Oregon.

[8][6] It is usually considered an early offshoot among this group of species,[8][6] but genetic studies suggest a close relation to Grace's warbler.

The nominate subspecies S. n. nigrescens occurs on the Pacific coastal region from British Columbia to northern California, while S. n. halseii, described by Giraud in 1841, occupies the inland parts of its range.

The adult female has more dingy plumage on its head, with a white throat and dark gray cheeks.

[15] The black-throated gray warbler breeds in western North America, its range extending from southwestern British Columbia along the Pacific coast to northern Baja California, and east to New Mexico and southern Montana.

[8][5][6] It has spread into parts of Wyoming and Montana only recently, as Juniperus osteosperma has expanded its range due to a warming climate.

The nest is an open cup constructed of grass stalks and other fibres, and lined with feathers and hair.