Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers During Spring Migration / May 9, 2017 by Todd Henson

Yellow-rumped Warbler of the Myrtle variety. Notice the white throat. You can also see the 2 yellow patches on either side of its breast.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are a common spring migrant as they move north to build nests and breed. We found a group of them in a local wildlife refuge along the same trail as the Palm Warblers I recently wrote about. The trail was a dirt road separating a small wooded area and a grassy/bushy area. The Yellow-rumped Warblers, along with the Palm Warblers, were flying back and forth between the trees and the bushes and grassland.

Yellow-rumped Warbler facing forward, giving a good view of its white throat and the yellow patches either side of its breast.

The Yellow-rumped Warblers in these photographs are of the Myrtle variety, which is more common along the eastern United States. The Audubon variety is more common in the west. One way of telling them apart, at least when they are distinct species and not in the band where they intermingle, is the color of their throat. Myrtle Warblers typically have a white throat, whereas Audubon Warblers typically have a yellow one.

Yellow-rumped Warbler looking down, showing off the yellow stripe on top of its head.

If you look at each of the photos you’ll also see the 4 patches of yellow commonly found on Yellow-rumped Warblers. Their name comes from the yellow patch on their rump, but they also have a small patch of yellow on the top of their head, and a patch on either side of the breast.

Backside of a Yellow-rumped Warbler, showing its namesake yellow rump. Also notice it is tilting its head to the left showing off the yellow stripe on top.

These were, perhaps, the first Yellow-rumped Warblers that I photographed. They are an attractive bird and I look forward to creating better photographs of them in the years ahead.

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Resources

The links below are affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This is at no extra cost to you.

If you’d like to learn more about Yellow-rumped Warblers, or any other warbler species, check out A Field Guide to Warblers of North America, one of the Peterson Field Guides. It’s over 650 pages, all devoted to warblers.

Or, if you’d like a more general field guide to birds look at the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. This is my favorite birding field guide. Another great one is the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America. See my Resources page for more info on the field guides I use.

Palm Warblers During Spring Migration / May 2, 2017 by Todd Henson

Palm Warbler facing forward. Notice the coloration and patterns of its breast feathers, as well as the chestnut colored crown at the top of its head.

I was recently hiking through a local wildlife refuge with some fellow photographers looking for spring migrants, particularly warblers. One of the species that made a good showing that day were Palm Warblers. This was my first opportunity photographing this species, which we typically only see here in the Mid-Atlantic region during its migration to more northerly locales.

Palm Warbler Singing is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products at my Pixels.com store. — ***Palm Warbler Singing*** is available for purchase as wall art or on a variety of products at my Pixels.com store.

We found the Palm Warblers along a trail that separated a more forested area from an area of bushes and grassland. The warblers were in the trees, or at times flying back and forth between the trees and the fields. They really are an attractive species, especially with their spring breeding plumage, which includes a chestnut colored crown on the top of their head. This made it very easy to identify them.

Palm Warbler tilting its head while posing on a tree branch

I very much hope for the opportunity to photograph Palm Warblers again.

Resources

The links below are affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This is at no extra cost to you.

If you’d like to learn more about Palm Warblers, or any other warbler species, check out A Field Guide to Warblers of North America, one of the Peterson Field Guides. It’s over 650 pages, all devoted to warblers.

Do you enjoy these posts?

I appreciate your support!

Nesting Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers / April 18, 2017 by Todd Henson

Female Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher sitting in her nest, beautifully lit by early morning sunlight

There are times when the trees in some parks are filled with the sights and sounds of Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers. These are small birds with a blue-gray head and back and a white underside. Their call has a lot of volume for a bird so small, and it matches their bravado, as they don’t seem at all afraid of people.

Male Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher sitting on a limb above the nest

Male Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher singing while sitting in the nest. It is actually working on building the inside of the nest.

The photos in this post were created over a two day period when I was fortunate enough to watch a pair of gnatcatchers building a nest on a tree limb very close to the trail. The nest was perfectly situated to be lit by the early morning sun when it wasn’t hiding behind a cloud. This combination of great location and nice lighting enabled me to create some decent images of these fantastic little birds.

I found it an absolute joy watching this pair. They would fly away, looking for small pieces of lichen, bark, grass, or spiderwebs, then return to add their find to the nest. They use the spiderwebs to hold everything together. Click on the images for full-screen views, where you can see the lichen and spiderwebs woven through the nest.

Female Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher sitting on a branch

Take another close look at the photos to compare the male and female. You can tell them apart because the male has a black eyebrow, whereas the female does not.