![]() ![]() They are everywhere no matter where you go this time of year. We have observed them here at GCBO headquarters at our feeders, while surveying for Loggerhead Shrikes in grassy and shrubby habitat, and even in the salt cedar patches along Matagorda Beach. They can be found in a variety of habitats such as agriculture fields, residential areas, marshes, shrubs, forests, and even beaches. This is why people often refer to them as “butter butts.” Both the “Audubon’s” and “Myrtle” species have the distinct yellow rump patch.ĭuring the winter they migrate and feed in large flocks. Their most distinguished feature is of course the bright yellow patch on their rump. They also have small pointed black beaks and short black legs. Their head is gray with a faint white eye stripe or eyebrow and a white eye ring. They have white bellies with gray streaks and yellow patches on both sides. We see them mainly in their wintering plumage when their bodies are brownish gray above with white wing bars and white below including the throat. Like many birds, its plumage changes with season. It can be found in the Southern United States to as far South as Mexico and the Caribbean. It is considered to be the most common wintering warbler in North America. We typically see the “Myrtle” species here in Texas. There are two subspecies, the “Audubon’s” and the “Myrtle”. Yellow-rumped Warblers are small songbirds that are only here during the winter months. Along with these species, another wintering species we come across is the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Our target species are Piping Plover, Snowy Plover, Red Knot, Black Skimmer, and American Oystercatcher. We monitor Matagorda Beach, Bryan Beach, Quintana Beach, Surfside Beach, and Follet’s Island until the end of March. During the winter, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory is surveying for non-breeding shorebirds along the Upper Texas Coast. © 2016 Tune In to January 2014/2018/2019/2023 Narrator: Michael SteinĪdapted with permission from Bryan Pfeiffer's “The Winter Warbler.” Visit Bryan's blog at. ![]() Wind Nature Essentials #02 recorded by Gordon Hempton, of īirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler. Andersen calls of Yellow-rumped Warbler recorded by D.S. Calls of Yellow-rumped Warbler recorded by M. You can share this show with a friend when you come to .īird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Particularly along the Atlantic coast, birders, in a day, might find butterbutts in the hundreds - abundance unlike any wintering warbler in North America. The Yellow-rump’s gastrointestinal talents probably account for its ability to inhabit a winter range farther north than its relatives. ![]() To do so, it appears that Yellow-rumps possess elevated levels of bile salts, which aid digestion of saturated fats. With insects in short supply, the Yellow-rump turns to fruit: juniper, viburnums, and mountain ash.īut this warbler’s greatest dietary feat is that it also eats the fruits of bayberry and wax myrtle - the raw materials of folksy candles. In winter, when most of their kin are enjoying insects in the tropics, Yellow-rumps are finding food across parts of the West, the southern U.S. But the Yellow-rumped Warbler, which birders affectionately call “butterbutt” is a lesson in adaptation. īy now most warblers have migrated south. Discover this songbird's buttery warmth, even when life outside seems to groan or crunch or crack in the cold. It’s an aster in winter, sun through the clouds - a force of nature called the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Vermont field naturalist and writer, Bryan Pfeiffer, writes today’s story: Yellow-Rumped Warbler - The Winter WarblerĪdapted from a Vermont birding blog by Bryan Pfeiffer ![]()
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