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Buzzy, Black and Yellow ... Birds!
You can see — and hear — the family resemblance.
© Silver Leapers
Golden-cheeked Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Townsend’s Warblers, and Hermit Warblers share similar songs and plumage. Though they all breed in different areas of North America, they can often be found flocking together on wintering grounds in Central America. Genetic studies have confirmed what their family resemblance suggests: these four warblers are closely related and likely shared a common ancestor before the last Ice Age. And as sister species often do, they all put a unique twist on that bright, buzzy song.
BirdNote®
Buzzy, Black and Yellow ... Birds!
Written by Ariana Remmel
This is BirdNote.
[Golden-cheeked Warbler]
Hear that? There’s something small, black and yellow buzzing in the trees. Is it a bug? A bee? No, it’s a bird!
[Golden-cheeked Warbler]
A Golden-cheeked Warbler to be exact. He’s smaller than a sparrow, with a white belly, yellow face, and black throat.
On a summer day in central Texas, Golden-cheeked Warblers are unmistakable. But on their wintering grounds in Central America, these songsters aren’t the only buzzy, black and yellow warblers around.
They may form mixed flocks with Black-throated Green Warblers that nest in the eastern US and Canada:
[Black-throated Green Warbler]
As well as Hermit Warblers that breed in the Pacific Northwest:
[Hermit Warbler]
Or Townsend’s Warblers that summer in British Columbia:
[Townsend’s Warbler]
Genetic studies have confirmed what their similarities suggest: these four warblers are closely related and likely shared a common ancestor before the last Ice Age. And as sister species often do, they all put a unique twist on that bright, buzzy song.
[Warblers reprised]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
###
Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Golden-cheeked Warbler ML188203 recorded by Bob McGuire, Black-throated Green Warbler ML98813 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller, Hermit Warbler ML22827 recorded by William R. Fish, Townsend’s Warbler ML111134 recorded by Thomas G. Sander.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote June 2026
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# warbler-02-2026-06-23 warbler-02
Reference:
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/gchwar/cur/introduction
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/herwar/cur/introduction
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/towwar/cur/introduction
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/btnwar/cur/introduction
Michael Stein
Narrator
Ariana Remmel
WriterSights & Sounds
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