COMMON YELLOWTHROAT GALLERY
(Geothlypis trichas)

eBird describes the Common Yellowthroat as a small warbler, olive above with intense yellow throat. Adult males have black masks. Forages for insects, typically in shrubby, wet areas, including marshes, forest edges, and fallow fields. Often hides in thick vegetation. Listen for its ringing “witchity-witchity-witchity” song in spring and summer. Very short, rounded wings, which equates to it being a short-distance migrant: some winter in southern U.S.

I saw my first Common Yellowthroat at Scout Pond in the Warbler Woods Sanctuary on May 8, 2020.  The Yellowthroat made a very brief appearance at the pond and I was fortunate enough to get a decent picture.  I hope you enjoy my photos of this beautiful little creature!

The clearest show I could get of this Common Yellowthroat. It never really came out of the brush! Warbler Woods, May 8, 2020.
Common Yellowthroat in its habitat. Warbler Woods, May 8, 2020.

Some “Cool Facts” About the Common Yellowthroat from All About Birds…

  • The Common Yellowthroat was one of the first bird species to be catalogued from the New World, when a specimen from Maryland was described by Linnaeus in 1766.
  • Adult Common Yellowthroats sometimes fall prey to carnivorous birds such as Merlins and Loggerhead Shrikes. Occasionally they have more unexpected predators: one migrating yellowthroat was eaten by a Chuck-will’s-widow, while another was found in the stomach of a largemouth bass.
  • Each male normally has only one mate in his territory during a breeding season. However, a female’s mating calls often attract other males, and she may mate with them behind her mate’s back.
  • One subspecies of Common Yellowthroat is a year-round resident in the Rio Grande river delta in Texas. These yellowthroats are not only territorial among themselves, but they also keep migrant yellowthroats of other races completely out of their habitat.
  • Brown-headed Cowbirds often lay their eggs in the nests of Common Yellowthroats (and many other songbird species). This is called brood parasitism, and it’s detrimental to the yellowthroats, so they’ve developed a few defenses. They desert a nest if it contains a cowbird egg, or if their own eggs have been removed or damaged by a visiting cowbird. They may build a second or even a third nest on top of a parasitized nest.
  • The oldest Common Yellowthroat on record was at least 11 years, 6 months old.