Hobbies And Interests
Instructions
Focus in on the yellow color, and consider its distribution and pattern on the bird's body. In North America, a relatively few species are dominantly yellow, like the striking yellow warbler, found across nearly all of the continent and defined by the greenish yellow plumage, reddish breast streaks and black eyes and bill.
Most, however, have yellow as part of a color ensemble. For example, the male American goldfinch has a yellow body contrasted with black wings and forehead. The yellow wagtail, which visits North America normally only in western and northern Alaska, has a yellow belly. The female blackburnian warbler shows a yellow throat part of the year.
Consider the bird's size and shape. Some of the smallest songbirds with some yellow in their plumage are warblers: The blue-winged warbler, the male of which is mostly yellow and the female somewhat less, is usually under 5 inches in length.
Compare the above with the male western tanager exhibitionist, with his yellow body, red head and black wings; this bird may reach over 7 inches long. Size isn't the only distinguishing feature between these birds: Most warblers are squat and rotund, with comparatively large heads, while the tanager is more sleek and longer-tailed. Bills of warblers and tanagers are relatively slim, while the American goldfinch has a robust, heavy beak for cracking seeds.
Define the immediate habitat and geographic location where you see the bird. This can help narrow down the field of candidates. In heavy brush, a flashing green-yellow bird with black mask could be identified either as a common yellowthroat or a Kentucky warbler, both about five inches long. But the confusion would only likely exist in the eastern US, where both species are regularly found; in a Great Plains riparian thicket, or an oak wood in California, you could be more confident in proclaiming the bird as a common yellowthroat.
Keep your eyes out in the extreme Southwest for localized yellow songbirds more common south of the border, like the heavy-beaked yellow grosbeak and the great kiskadee.
Watch for behavioral clues and listen to the bird's song for further evidence of its identity. The astute ear can often discern between yellow-marked warblers by their songs: the yellow-throated singing in a soft, descending series compared with the prothonotary warbler's ascending, bolder song. You may be more likely to encounter a western tanager flashing through an open woodland, while the similarly sized and contoured yellow-breasted chat is more likely to ensconce itself in thickets.