North America has more than 50 species of warblers, but few combine brilliant color and easy viewing quite like the Yellow Warbler.  Males are a bright, egg-yolk yellow with reddish streaks on the under-parts. Both sexes flash yellow patches in the tail. The face is unmarked, accentuating the large black eye. 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. Look to find the males singing their sweet, whistled songs from high perches.

Yellow Warblers build their nests in the vertical fork of a bush or small tree such as willow, hawthorn, raspberry, white cedar, dogwood, and honeysuckle. The nest is typically within about 10 feet of the ground but occasionally up to about 40 feet. The female builds the nest over a period of about 4 days. First she builds a cup of grasses, bark strips, and plants such as nettles. She places plant fibers, spider webs, and plant down around the outside. The inner cup is lined with deer hair, feathers, and fibers from cottonwood, dandelion, willow, and cattail seeds. If a cowbird lays its eggs in a Yellow Warbler’s nest, the warbler often begins building a new nest directly on top of the old one; abandoning both its own eggs and the cowbird’s… sometimes they result in nests with up to six tiers!

Click the play button below to hear the Yellow Warbler!

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