Birds of Central Oklahoma

All birds New World Warblers

Yellow-rumped Warbler, adult male
Adult male Photo by Erik Schiff. CC0, via iNaturalist.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Setophaga coronata

Here October to April.

Recorded by Christopher McPherson. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, via xeno-canto, trimmed and volume evened out.

Look for

  1. A bright yellow patch on its rump, just above the tail. You'll see it best when the bird flies away.
  2. A small yellow patch on each side of the chest, and white spots in the tail.
  3. Many have a white throat and a dark patch on the cheek. Spring males are the brightest. Young females in fall and winter are the dullest.

A little about it

Yellow-rumped Warblers spend the winter here. Look for them from October to April. December has the most.

They eat lots of bugs, like caterpillars, gnats, beetles, and wasps. They eat spiders too. In winter, they also eat berries from plants like juniper and poison ivy.

This warbler finds food in many ways. It picks bugs off twigs and leaves, and it can hover in the air to grab one. It may also cling to a tree trunk or look for food on the ground. Listen for its sharp "chek!" call.

In summer, they nest up north and in high western mountains, in forests of pine, fir, and spruce. The female lines her cup nest with feathers. The feathers curl over the 4 or 5 eggs and help cover them.

Fun fact

Most warblers fly to the tropics for the winter. Yellow-rumps can stay farther north, because they can digest the wax on waxy berries.

When it's here

Taller bars mean more sightings. Most often seen in December.

More winter birds

How big

SparrowRobinCrowGoose

5 to 6 inches. About the size of a sparrow.

Where to look

In winter, look in open woods and brushy thickets. They visit gardens too. They often hunt for food in flocks.

  • In the woods
  • Yards and parks

People have spotted it at Martin Park Nature Center, Lake Stanley Draper, Arcadia Lake.

Could it be something else?

  • "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler

    This western type has a yellow throat and a plainer face. It has the same yellow rump.

  • American Goldfinch

    In winter, goldfinches are brownish with a little yellow too. But their yellow is on the face and throat, and their black wings have bold white stripes.

More photos

Yellow-rumped Warbler, winter
Winter Photo by Paul Danese. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Where these facts come from