How to Identify aYellow Warbler
Setophaga petechia · 4.7–5.1 in (12–13 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Bright egg-yolk yellow overall with chestnut-red streaks down the breast and a plain yellow face with a black eye.
Female
Plainer yellow without (or with faint) breast streaks.
Male photo: Rhododendrites / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Second photo: kansasphoto / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0
Field marks
- All-yellow body, even the wing edges
- Beady black eye on a plain yellow face
- Reddish breast streaks (males)
- Yellow spots in the tail
Similar species
What it sounds like
A bright, sweet "sweet-sweet-sweet-I’m-so-sweet", carrying across willow thickets.
Behaviour that gives it away
When a cowbird lays in its nest it builds a new floor over the top and starts again, sometimes stacking several storeys.
Habitat & range
Willows, streamsides, wet thickets, and gardens across most of North America in summer.
When you'll see it
A summer visitor that arrives to breed in North America.
What it eats
Insects and caterpillars gleaned from leaves and twigs.
Did you know?
A favorite target of Brown-headed Cowbirds — around 40% of nests face attempted brood parasitism, and the warblers have a special "seet" alarm call for them.
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