stokes
Main Year-round Clues
- Bright yellow rump. Yellow patch on sides, in front of wings.
- Streaked on breast and flanks.
- Thin white eyebrow.
- Most abundant warbler during fall migration and in winter.
Additional Clues
- Spring Male: Yellow patch on crown, white throat, black mask. Blue-gray back.
- Spring Female: Similar to male but yellow crown patch reduced, mask charcoal to brownish. Back is brownish.
- Fall Adults and Immatures: Similar to spring female but washed with more brown. Yellow on sides can be absent on imm. females.
Undertail Pattern
Undertail coverts white; has obvious white tail spots.
Behaviour and Habitat
In Winter, frequents brush edges, especially near berries, such as bayberry and wax myrtle. In winter, often eats berries and may come to feeders for suet and fruit. Breeds in deciduous or mixed forests.
Voice
Song a weak musical trill. Call a sharp "check."
Conservation Status
The "Myrtle" Yellow-rump has significantly increases over the last 30 years. The flexibility of this species in terms of breeding habitat and foods that it will eat has helped it out.
Field Marks, Behaviour, Etc.
- Bold eye-ring : No
- Eyebrow : Yes
- Plain yellow face : No
- Wingbar(s) : Yes
- Yellow rump : Yes
- Bobs tail : No
- Waves tail : No
- Spreads tail : No
- Walks rather than hops when on ground : No
- Forages on Tree Trunks : No *
- Flycatches : Yes
- Where it nests : In tree, 10-20 feet up
- Spring migration timing : Early, begins before April 20
- Migration routes : Trans-Gulf, Circum-Gulf, and Southeastern U.S. via Florida
- Roughly one adult plumage for both sexes all year : No
- Two adult plumages (male and female different but stay relatively the same throughout year) : No
- Two adult plumages (male and female look alike, but their spring and fall plumages are different : No
- Four adult plumages (male and female different, and both change from one season to the next) : Yes
* = I saw a Myrtle Warbler cling to the trunk of a tree and lap up sap, leaking from a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker well.
