Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19 NKJV)

When I wrote the article about our trip to S. Lake Howard Nature Park this week, I was not exactly sure which of the Old Yellow-rumped Warblers I had seen. Since the 2.4 Version of the I.O.C. (International Ornithologist Congress) list, they split the “Butterbutt” into four species. Hadn’t looked into it too much, but now is the time to try to figure out which one is which.

The four birds are the:
Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata) – Eastern U.S. Mostly
Audubon’s Warbler (Dendroica auduboni) – Western U.S. Mostly
Black-fronted Warbler (Dendroica nigrifrons)
Goldman’s Warbler (Dendroica goldmani)

After doing quite a bit of research, I was wrong about the Audubon Warbler. Not only do I not live in the west, but after studying lots of photos, it is the Myrtle Warbler not the Audubon’s Warbler, as I first thought, that we saw.

Here are some of the traits of the Myrtle Warbler (from USGS about the Myrtle and Audubon’s Warblers):

Bright yellow rump (nicknamed “butterbutts”)

Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata) Bright yellow rump

White spots in tail

Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata) White spots in tail

White supercilium and broken eye ring

Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata) White supercilium and broken eye

Here are some links to read to help with the split:
Myrtle Warbler by Wikipedia
Audubon’s Warbler by Wikipedia
Welcome back Myrtle Warbler? from the Drinking Bird
Goodbye Yellow-rumped Warbler, welcome back Myrtle Warbler and Audubon’s Warbler . . . by flickr discussion

At any rate, while I was sitting there, the little warbler preened and did not spook as I kept taking its photo.

These warblers belong to the Parulidae Family of the Passeriformes Order.

This is not an extensive listing of the birds, as the above articles covered much of it. These photos were taken by me (Lee).

The Slide show is of the Myrtle Warbler in the time sequence they were taken.

*

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

*