Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler

BirdNote^®

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Written by Frances Wood

This is BirdNote!
[Song of Audubon’s Warbler (subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler)]
Not so long ago, the bird we’re hearing was known in the West as the Audubon’s Warbler. Its close eastern relative was called the Myrtle Warbler [Song of Myrtle Warbler (subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler)] Now, both are known as the Yellow-rumped Warbler.
[Audubon’s Warbler song]
The Yellow-rumped Warbler is well named, with a bright, lemon-yellow rump and four other yellow spots on its charcoal-gray body — one atop its head, another under the chin, and two more on its sides.
Warblers are small, active birds, constantly flitting from branch to branch, foraging for insects and grubs. Many species prefer the very tops of trees. Warbler watching is particularly challenging in the Eastern US, where three dozen different warbler species dazzle and confuse the viewer. Some are frustratingly similar in both plumage and song. Warblers can drive birdwatchers over the brink!
In the West, birdwatchers have a much easier time, because the most common warbler is the distinctive Yellow-rumped. Even more helpful, this warbler is happy flitting through the lower branches of trees, providing flightless mortals with half a chance of seeing them.
[Audubon’s Warbler song]
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Bird song and calls provided by the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.  Song of the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s subspecies) recorded by G.A. Keller. Song of the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle subspecies) provided G.F. Budney.
Ambient track provided by Kessler Productions.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2009 Tune In to Nature.org

ID#042705YRWAKPLU   YRWA-01b-2009-04-19-MS