Yellow-throated Warbler

                                                                Yellow-throated Warbler

 A trip to Gagetown on Sunday, December 5, 2021, gave us this wonderful sighting.  See the Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) above.  It has been coming to the feeders and surrounding area of a bird-friendly house.  This is a relatively rare vagrant to New Brunswick and a welcome sight to the many birders who have seen it.  As you can see, it is a beautiful little bird.

The Yellow-throated Warbler is a rare visitor in the fall but is listed as casual in spring and early winter.  The first record for this species in New Brunswick was from Machias Seal Island in 1975.  Most records since then have been from the southern part of the province.  A few have survived into winter if they have good cover and the support of active feeders.  

The normal breeding range of the Yellow-throated Warbler is south-eastern North America from Illinois, Ohio, and New Jersey south to Missouri, Texas, the Gulf Coast and northern Florida.  Some are year-round residents of Florida.  They spend winters along the Gulf Coast into Mexico and in the Caribbean.  Their preferred habitats are pine forests, cypress, sycamore and oak forests.  They inhabit both swampy and dry areas.  

                                                                Yellow-throated Warbler 

Yellow-throated Warblers feed on insects and spiders and their eggs.  They act very much like nuthatches and Black-and-white Warblers, gleaning food from tree bark and around leaves, cones and needles.  They are often seen feeding upside down.  They will eat suet from feeders.  

                                                            Yellow-throated Warbler 

The Yellow-throated Warbler is 13 cm long (5.3 in) with a wing span of 20 cm (8 in).  This 9.4 g (0.33 oz) little bird packs in a lot of beauty.  Both genders are similar in appearance with the female being slightly lighter than the male.  The bill appears long and the brilliant yellow throat and upper breast are striking.  The upper side is gray and the white supercilium and white patch on the side of the neck contrast with the black mask.  This black mask runs down the cheek and onto the sides of the throat and flanks where it becomes stripes.  These, along with the two white wingbars, make the bird look quite striped.  There is a white crescent under the eye and the white supercilium produces white lores (area in front of the eye) in some races and yellow lores in other races.  The tail shows white patches in the outter-tail feathers.  

This species nests in trees and hidden among conifer needles or Spanish moss.  The four purple-spotted, pale green eggs are laid in a cup-shaped nest made of grass and strips of bark and lined with feathers and hair.  The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 13 days.

                                                            Yellow-throated Warbler 

Western subspecies normally have an entirely white supercilium (no yellow lores).  They also show a small white spot at the base of the chin.  Eastern subspecies may show yellow lores which merge with the white supercilium but no white chin spot.  The voice of the Yellow-throated Warbler  is a series of down-slurred whistles.  Some say it is similar to the Indigo Bunting.  Its song is a series of descending notes which increase in speed and rise abruptly at the end.  It is doubtful if any of our NB birders have been lucky enough to hear this species sing since it is so rare here.

                                                                Yellow-throated Warbler 

All of the above photos are taken by me and are of the individual appearing in Gagetown.  Notice that there is no chin spot and that there is a suggestion of yellow lores (although inconclusive in these photos).  I expect this is the Eastern subspecies.  It is interesting to speculate where this bird spent the summer and where it was hatched.  

As you can see, this species is quite distinctive.  It would not normally be confused with another species but in some areas of its range it might be confused with Grace's Warbler, but it has an extensive yellow supercilium and much less black on the face.  Here the immature male Blackburnian Warbler would casually have to be ruled out in summer, but it has a streaked back, and no white on the supercilium and sides of the neck.  

                                            Yellow-throated Warbler Seen in 2005 at Taymouth

The Yellow-throated Warbler was first scientifically described in 1766 by Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist.  The population today of this species is thought to be stable.  With more vagrants appearing here over recent years one would think it might be expanding its range further north.  

This species will hybridize with the Northern Parula.  The offspring is called the Sutton's Warbler.  It apparently looks like the Yellow-throated Warbler but has no streaking on its sides and some green on its back.  That would be interesting so see!

 

We need to keep our winter feeders well-stocked and clean.  You never know what might show up.  Maybe you will get a nice Christmas bird, like the one in Gagetown this year!