The worm-eating warbler was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[3] Gmelin based his account on the "worm-eater" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his Gleanings of Natural History.

This shift in habitat selection likely demonstrates that worm-eating warblers are more closely associated with shrub structure than stand age or size.

Due to their reliance on shrub structure for foraging, and ground nesting behavior, frequent fires have a negative impact on this species.

[11] Other management strategies that reduce the shrub mid-story, increase herbaceous growth, and decrease canopy cover are likely to have a similar effect.

More information is needed about their breeding habits in coastal regions as these forests are likely to represent different conditions from their inland counterparts.

[13] In winter, these birds migrate to southern Mexico, the Greater Antilles, and Central America particularly along the Caribbean Slope where they occupy both scrub and moist forests.

[14] Worm-eating warblers have disappeared from some parts of their range due to habitat loss but their ability to use both scrub and moist forest ecosystems may be beneficial to the long term conservation of this species.

[16] Reducing forest fragmentation may prove vital if populations of worm-eating warblers suffer large declines.

Use of pesticides, especially those broadcast over a wide area, is likely to have an effect on most insectivorous songbird species, including the worm-eating warbler.