Yellow-throated Warbler Gallery
Setophaga dominica
eBird gives this description of the Yellow-throated Warbler: Long bill for a warbler. Bold color pattern with yellow throat, black mask, and black streaks on breast. Gray-blue back. Favors sycamore-laden creeks and pine forests where they forage for insects. Prefers palm trees in some parts of wintering range. All About Birds provides this additional descriptive information about the Yellow-throated Warbler: The well-named Yellow-throated Warbler shows off its bright yellow throat in the canopy of forests in the southeastern United States. It hops up branches, working its way high into the canopy probing for insects in crevices and clumps of pine needles, much like a Brown Creeper or Black-and-white Warbler. Unlike those birds, the Yellow-throated Warbler is gray above with a black triangle below its eye and a white eyebrow. It is also one of the few warblers that can be found during the winter in the U.S.
I was delighted to watch a Yellow-throated Warbler who made a brief appearance at the blind/water feature at Kickapoo Cavern State Park on the morning of August 30, 2020. What a delightful bird!
“Cool Facts” about the Yellow-throated Warbler from All About Birds…
- Many warblers migrate from South America to Canada each year, but Yellow-throated Warblers are almost homebodies by comparison. They nest farther south than most warblers, winter farther north, and are even year-round residents in parts of the southern U.S.
- In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Yellow-throated Warblers disappeared from the northern part of their range, but since 1940 they have been expanding northward. Isolated breeding populations have been found as far north as New York, Michigan, and southeastern Ontario, Canada.
- The oldest recorded Yellow-throated Warbler was at least 5 years and 1 month old.