Yellow warbler with insect, Kelowna, BC (late May).

Although there are many North American birds that don the colour yellow, none of them does it quite as splendidly as the yellow warbler.  They are the only native bird on the continent entirely clad in yellow.  The male, as shown above, sports red streaks on his breast and blackish-gray primary feathers on the wings.  Wilson's warblers are a close second but can be identified by the black cap they sport.

Yellow warblers are ubiquitous throughout most of the continent during the breeding and rearing seasons.  Voracious insect eaters, they capture their prey both on wing and on foliage.  Their beaks are instruments of precision, not the thick, powerful beaks of sparrows and grossbeaks.

These birds have the amazing ability to prevent cowbirds from laying eggs in their nests.  According to The American Bird Conservancy (click here for reference), yellow warblers produce a warning call to neighbours if brown-headed cowbirds are seen in the area.  Cowbirds are brood-parasites; the females lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.  Not only do the host parents raise these unwittingly adopted chicks, they do so to the detriment of their own brood.  If a yellow warbler finds an unwelcome egg in its nest, it will build a new nest on top of the old one and start over.  It takes about four days worth of labour to construct the new nest.

Males of the species are territorial and defend the nesting area from other would-be competitors.  They are monogamous but often have a different mate the following year.  

The word warbler refers to the group's capacity to warble, that is sing.  You can hear an example of the yellow warbler's song here.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com