Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
Overview: Male Yellow Warblers are bright, buttery yellow birds with chestnut streaks on the breast and greenish tinged backs. Females are a warm yellow, duller than males, with faint or lacking breast streaks. Both have a stout bill, yellow underside of tail, and two yellow wing bars. Unmarked yellow face with prominent dark eye. Immature: Lacks breast streaks; some individuals may be quite dull and even grayish.
Field marks: No other warbler is so extensively yellow. Females and immatures aren’t as bright, and lack the male’s rich chestnut streaking, but their overall yellow tones, unmarked faces, and conspicuous black eyes help pick them out.
Size: 5 in.
Sounds: Call a soft, slurred, rich chip. Song is bright and cheerful, consisting of 6-10 rapid, high, clear notes, often rendered as sweet sweet sweet I’m so sweet. Many variations of phrasing occur. May be repeated as often as 10 times per minute. Both sexes use a high, hissing note in territorial defense, and may confront cowbirds with a seet call (listen to this bird here).
Behavior: Typical warbler behavior. An active foliage gleaner; hops between branches to forage for insects on leaf surfaces. Yellow Warblers pick insects from foliage or capture them on short flights or while hovering to reach leaves. Yellow Warblers typically form monogamous pairs that sometimes last more than one breeding season and reform the next. Yellow Warblers defend their nesting territories from many species, including other warbler species, chickadees, House Wrens, blackbirds, and Eastern Kingbirds.
Habitat: Riparian woodlands and understory, swamp edges, particularly alders and willows; also parks, garden shrubbery, orchards, thickets and other disturbed or regrowing habitats, such as overgrown power-line cuts. Common and widespread in any wet brushy habitat. On their wintering grounds Yellow Warblers live in mangrove forests, dry scrub, marshes, and forests.
Diet: Insects and spiders. Typical prey include midges, caterpillars, beetles, leafhoppers and other bugs, and wasps.
How to attract: Keep birdbaths full. A solar fountain or water bubbler can help draw birds such as Yellow Warblers who would not normally be attracted. Larger yards that have small trees or are near streams may provide nesting habitat for these birds.
Fun Facts
In addition to the migratory form of the Yellow Warbler that breeds in North America, several other resident forms can be found in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Males in these populations can have chestnut caps or even chestnut covering the entire head.
The nests of the Yellow Warbler are frequently parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird. The warbler often builds a new nest directly on top of the parasitized one, sometimes resulting in nests with up to six tiers.
Life can be dangerous for a small bird. Yellow Warblers have occasionally been found caught in the strands of an orb weaver spider’s web.
Facts provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Information compiled from multiple sources.