Common Yellowthroat

Geothlypis trichas · Warblers

Common Yellowthroat, male

Green-Wood Cemetery, 17 May 2026

A male Common Yellowthroat in the leaf litter at Green-Wood in May, one of the few warblers confident enough to work right down at ground level rather than staying up in the foliage. It breeds in wet thickets and marsh edge across the whole continent, and a cemetery with a pond and a bramble patch will hold a pair.

The black mask is worn only by males and is close to unmistakable once seen. The song, a rolling "witchety-witchety-witchety", is often the first clue to one being nearby, well before it shows itself.

Common Yellowthroat

Everglades National Park, 6 February 2026

A male Common Yellowthroat in the tangled cover of the Everglades in February, low to the ground and rarely still for long. It is one of the most numerous and widespread warblers in North America, breeding in wet thickets from coast to coast, and one of the few that will winter as far north as the southern United States rather than continuing to the tropics.

The black mask edged above in pale grey. It was one of the first American birds described to science, from a specimen sent to Linnaeus from Maryland in 1766.

Female Common Yellowthroat

Central Park, 21 September 2025

A female Common Yellowthroat in the low cover of Central Park in September, on her way south to the Gulf coast or beyond. Yellowthroats breed in wet thickets and marsh edge across the whole continent, and they skulk low in dense cover at every season, heard far more than seen.

No black mask, which belongs to the male alone, just the plain olive back and bright yellow throat that make the female considerably harder to place at a glance. One of the most common warblers in North America, and one of the few that will nest in a city marsh.