The Four Keys to ID
- Size & Shape
Yellow Warblers are small, evenly proportioned songbirds with medium-length tails and rounded heads. For a warbler, the straight, thin bill is relatively large.
Relative Size
About the same size as a Yellow-rumped Warbler; slightly larger than an American Goldfinch.
sparrow-sized or smallerMeasurements
- Both Sexes
- Length: 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm)
- Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (9-11 g)
- Wingspan: 6.3-7.9 in (16-20 cm)
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay Library
- Color Pattern
Yellow Warblers are uniformly yellow birds. Males are a bright, egg-yolk yellow with reddish streaks on the underparts. Both sexes flash yellow patches in the tail. The face is unmarked, accentuating the large black eye.
© Keenan Yakola / Macaulay Library - Behavior
Look for Yellow Warblers near the tops of tall shrubs and small trees. They forage restlessly, with quick hops along small branches and twigs to glean caterpillars and other insects. Males sing their sweet, whistled songs from high perches.
- Habitat
Yellow Warblers breed in shrubby thickets and woods, particularly along watercourses and in wetlands. Common trees include willows, alders, and cottonwoods across North America and up to about 9,000 feet in the West. In winter they mainly occur in mangrove forests of Central and South America.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Regional Differences
Yellow Warblers differ only slightly across continental North America. Various subspecies that live year-round in the Caribbean and in mangrove forests of Central and South America have bright chestnut on the crown or over the entire head; these subspecies are often referred to as “Golden” or “Mangrove” Yellow Warblers. There is a very small population of “Mangrove” Yellow Warblers in extreme south Texas.
