Family:
The yellow-rumped warbler is a fairly large, full-bodied warbler with a large head, sturdy bill, and long, narrow tail. During breeding season, adult male has dark-streaked blue-grey upperparts with a yellow rump, dark tail with white edges, and two long white flashes on the dark wings. The underparts are white with black streaks on the breast and yellow on the sides. The head is grey with a yellow crown, the lores and cheeks are black, and there is a white supercilium, and white crescents below the eyes. Females are similar but duller. In winter both sexes are browner.
There are four subspecies; the eastern myrtle warbler, and the western Audubon’s warbler, the black-fronted warbler, found in northwest Mexico, and Goldmann’s warbler, found in Guatemala.
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Yellow-rumped warblers eat mainly insects and are versatile foragers, gleaning them from leaves, catching them in flight, grabbing them from piles of dung, skimming them from the surface of water, and even picking them out of seaweed at the beach. In autumn and winter, they will supplement their diet with fruit and nectar.
Yellow-rumped warblers are found across North America. They breed from northern Alaska and Canada to the midwestern States and migrate south for winter. They are found in a wide range of habitats but in particular coniferous forests, woodland, and occasionally back gardens.
