All birds New World Warblers
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Yellow Warbler
Setophaga aestiva
Passes through in May and again in August to September.
Recorded by Christopher McPherson. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, via xeno-canto, trimmed and volume evened out.
Look for
- A plain yellow face, so its dark eye really stands out.
- Dark wings with yellow edges on the feathers. Its tail has yellow spots, where most warblers have white ones.
- Males have thin reddish streaks on the chest. Some young females in fall are very dull.
A little about it
Yellow Warblers pass through here in May, on their way north. They head south early, so look again in August and September. They do most of their flying at night.
They eat mostly bugs. Caterpillars can make up as much as 2/3 of what they eat. They also eat moths, mosquitoes, beetles, and spiders, plus a few berries.
A Yellow Warbler hunts from low bushes all the way up to the treetops. It can hover to grab a bug from under a leaf. Listen for a bright song that sounds like "sweet-sweet-sweet, sweeter-than-sweet."
They nest from as far north as the Arctic Circle down to Mexico. The female builds a small cup in the fork of a bush or small tree. She lays 4 or 5 eggs, and the young leave the nest 9 to 12 days after they hatch.
Fun fact
Cowbirds often sneak their eggs into Yellow Warbler nests. The warbler may build a new floor right over the cowbird eggs and lay new eggs on top. In one nest, the cowbirds came back 5 times, so the warbler built 6 floors!
When it's here
- January: not here
- February: not here
- March: not here
- April: a few
- May: here
- June: not here
- July: not here
- August: here
- September: here
- October: a few
- November: not here
- December: not here
Taller bars mean more sightings. Most often seen in May.
How big
About 5 inches. A little smaller than a sparrow.
Where to look
Willows and thick bushes along streams and lakes. It also visits gardens and the edges of woods.
People have spotted it at Lake Stanley Draper, Martin Park Nature Center, Lake Thunderbird State Park.
Could it be something else?
American Goldfinch
Summer males are bright yellow too. But they have black wings and a black patch on the forehead.
Orange-crowned Warbler
Plainer and duller, with a dark line through its eye and blurry streaks on its chest. Its brightest yellow is under the tail.
More photos
Where these facts come from
- Audubon Guide to North American Birds: Northern Yellow Warbler
- When it's here: Sightings shared on iNaturalist in the 8 counties, all years.