Warblers are on the move throughout the United States and Canada, migrating south for the winter. Though most warblers do not go to seed feeders, they do come to backyards that offer good habitat, food in the form of insects, and especially water. Like most birds they are not interested in manicured lawns which provide little to meet their needs or yards that use a lot of insecticides since they are insect eaters. They prefer layered vegetation–with tall trees,then shorter trees or large shrubs, then smaller shrubs.
The bird in the top two photos is a male Hooded Warbler, a very distinctive and boldly plumaged. With his yellow face and black hood, this male is easy to recognize when spotted. I think he is quite handsome! Like many bird species, the female is not as colorful or easily identified. These are birds of eastern United States.
Speaking of female birds, the one pictured above is a female MacGillivray’s Warbler. While not as brightly colored as the males of this species that have more contrasting slate gray hoods, she is still recognizable by the broken eye ring (like two semi-circles, one above and the other below the eye) that is distinctive to this species. Unlike the Hooded Warbler, this species is found in the west–from far western Canada down through western United States.
This last bird is a Northern Waterthrush–yes, a waterthrush is a warbler species. It is found more widely from Alaska through most of Canada into all of the eastern U.S. and some western states too. It looks larger than many warblers but it is only 6 inches in length, which makes it only 3/4 of an inch longer than the Hooded Warbler but a full 1 1/2 inches longer than the more petite MacGillivray’s Warbler.
Northern Waterthrush are often seen on banks of streams, rivers and ponds where they can be observed walking and bobbing their tails like Spotted Sandpipers. Yes, this bird prefers to walk rather than hop like most other warblers. If you notice the sparkle in the two photos of this bird please be aware I did not use flash, the sparkle is natural and produced when a little sunshine hits it. I use flash sparingly (I don’t like having a camera flash in my face so don’t want to do it birds either and I don’t like photos showing the light from a flash reflected in the bird’s eyes).
Even if you don’t think you will be visited by these or other migrating warblers, please keep some water out for the birds and other critters. It is so vital not only for those that need to drink it but for birds to bath to keep their feathers clean. And with the widespread drought, it may make the difference for some birds during their long migration.
Have you ever seen these warblers or have other warbler species visited your yard?
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Is there any other ways to attract warblers to my yard?
In some very southern areas of U.S., they do go to feeders in the winter. Otherwise they are eating insects and habitat (with minimal pesticide use) is the key. I did see a lot of warblers swarming over some apple and pear trees that were left for the fruit to fall off, attracting lots of insects, but I don’t think many people would want this mess in their yard.
I have only seen Nashville warblers. However, there is a creeper that comes to our trees in the winter. What can I do to attract it to the feeders?
Hello Cheery,
Sorry for late reply but I don’t always see these comments that are posted afterwards.
Brown Creepers are pretty cool birds, they have really high pitched whistle like calls. I don’t get them in my yard but Cornell Labs often has good info on what birds will eat and here is what they say on their “All About Birds” webpage: “Though they eat mostly insects, in winter Brown Creepers will eat suet and peanut butter, and occasionally sunflower seeds, pine seeds, grass seeds, and corn. You’re more likely to see them if there are large, old trees nearby”
We’ve had four species of warblers pop by our yard over the past couple of years: Yellow-rumped, Palm, Yellow, and, most recently, a young Common Yellowthroat. All but the Yellow Warbler were seen in Sept/Oct, during Fall migration. And all of them spent most of their visit in our main garden, which includes a variety of native flowers and shrubs, some driftwood (great for bugs), and a small waterfall and pond.
Hi Jen,
You must have a great native garden to get all those warblers stopping by. I bet the sound from your waterfall is real helpful at advertising that you have water available. Kudos to you for providing for those migrating warblers
We had a tiny yellow bird visit us a week or so ago; I got a quick look through the binoculars but it is a very quick little bird and it didn’t hold still long enough for me to get a picture. It was almost all yellow with a few touches of black, but the most distinctive feature was the yellow bill and its tiny size.
Can you tell me what this bird is?
Thank you, Carol
Hi Carol,
I am sorry but without at least location information–city/county and state and habitat (yard in an urban area/yard in forested area/yard near lakes/yard in grassland area/etc), it isn’t possible to identify your bird. There are many small yellow colored birds, mostly warblers but also goldfinches, and some have light colored bills that would look yellow (none are listed in my field guides as being actually yellow). If you can reply below with that info I will try to find the most likely choices.
I have had the priviledge to have the following warblers visit my back yard in upper East Tennessee: Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Black-Throated Blue Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, and Warbling Vireo. I also have photo’s of each I would love to have verified if there is anyway to send them to you. We have tried to make a sanctuary outside our sunroom complete with a cascading waterfall where we can sit and watch the animals of all kinds enjoying the water. But it seems like I get alot less work done now. Oh well, such is life!
Hello Benjie-
Wow, that is a lot of warbler species!
Do you have a facebook page? If you do, you could put them in an album and then make them open to the public for a day or so while I review them.
If not, you can get a free Picasa web album then send me the link so I could review them.
There we go–another waterfall, that is fantastic. The sound of moving water is a real big attractant for birds. Wonderful that you can sit in your sunroom and watch all those warblers and other critters getting a drink and maybe a bath.
I think I has a few pictures loaded on Picasa now, try the following link https://picasaweb.google.com/109333608147219632993/WarblersOfEastTennessee#
Thanks for your input!
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