Yellow-rumped Warbler, tail flared
Setophaga coronata
Yellow-rumped Warbler · San Diego Botanic Garden · 7 March 2026
A Yellow-rumped Warbler caught mid-shift between flowers in a San Diego garden in March, tail fanned for balance, the white tail corners flashing. It is the commonest wintering warbler in North America, and a Californian garden in March holds a loose flock of them.
The Audubon's and Myrtle forms disagree on the throat but not on the tail. It is the warbler with the trick: the only one that can digest the wax on bayberries, which lets it winter as far north as New England on fruit while every other warbler must follow the insects south.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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