Taxonomy/Description

Yellow-rumped Warblers are passerines in the family consisting of Wood Warblers. They are about 5-6 inches in size and weight about 12-13g. They have a yellow rump and side patch. Yellow-rumped Warblers are dichromatic which means that the males and females have differing plumages. During the breeding season, the males have a black mask and broken eye ring. They have a white throat along with white wing bars and underparts. Males also have a blue-gray crown, nape, back and wing coverts with black streaks during the breeding season. Females and males during the nonbreeding season still have the broken eye ring, white throat and wing bars, but the yellow side patch is indistinct to absent. Their head and back are brown to brownish-gray with black streaks on the back as well.

photo Ivan Andrijevic

Habitat/Diet

Yellow-rumped Warblers prefer habitats of mature coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. During the breeding season they primarily eat insects (adults and larvae) as well as other invertebrates. During the winter, they will eat mainly eat fruit and sometimes insects. They usually glean the insects from trees and branches.

photo Ivan Andrijevic

Behavior/Reproduction

Yellow-rumped Warblers breed in Alaska, Canada and northeastern United States. They tend to winter in deserts of south west United States and be found as far south as Panama. Females usually arrive several days to about a week after males have arrived. Yellow-rumped Warblers have monogamous pair bonds and can have two clutches per year, though it is rare. Each clutch contains about four to five, white to creamy, oval shaped eggs. Yellow-rumped Warblers make the typical songbird cup-nest. It is made from various materials and conforms to the female’s body. Females incubate the eggs for about 13-14 days and chicks are altricial (blind, naked and immobile) when they hatch. Chicks fledge between days 10-12 after hatching.

photo Ivan Andrijevic

Where to see them in WNY

Yellow-rumped Warblers are very common in WNY during migration. They can be easily spotted at Forest Lawn Cemetery and Tift Nature Preserve.