Bird of the week #5

I'm sorry I'm late on this post. Choosing birds can be very difficult sometimes. I was deciding on a 3 species and had to dismiss the Winter Wren and Pine Siskin. Which leave us with our fifth bird of the week: Yellow-Rumped Warbler!

This bird is one of the larger warblers. They are also known as "Butterbutts" due to their plumage. There are two subspecies that look very different: the Myrtle and Audubon's Yellow-Rumped Warbler. The Myrtle Warbler is the subspecies found around NYC, so that is the one I will be talking about. This bird changes plumage throughout the season, In the spring it is blue with yellow patches on its head, flanks, and rump (hence the name) with a streaked white belly. In the fall the blue turns to brown, otherwise they look the same throughout seasons. These birds have many foraging habits, including feeding on berries in the winter, insects in the trees in the spring and summer, and insects and berries on the ground in the fall.

Myrtle Warblers can be found over much of the country. They breed in Canada. Because they often eat other foods besides insects, they are able to winter as far north as Massachusetts. They winter over much of their range and can be common even on Long Island. These birds can be found in numbers across the 5 boroughs from October through early-May. In the winter, they are usually only seen along the Long Island Coast, despite being common there. Myrtle Warblers can often be found in fruiting/flowering trees in the spring, and in some clearings in the fall.

That's it for this bird of the week. I hope you enjoyed it!