Connecticut Audubon Bird Finder for April 17: Yellow-throated Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler
Setophaga dominica

Written by Andrew Griswold, Director of Connecticut Audubon Society’s EcoTravel program

Where to find it: A great warbler for Connecticut, Yellow-throated Warbler was recently found (April 17, 2014) by Connecticut Audubon Society staff member Frank Gallo at Mondo Ponds in Milford, feeding in a vine tangle with a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, “about 10 yards west of the north parking lot, on the right.” The lot is off Naugatuck Avenue. Park and walk west (right) from the lot. The bird was on the right in the dense vine tangles near the road.

Yellow-throated Warbler has been found in years past at Chatfield Hollow State Park in Killingworth and other locations mostly across the southern half of the state.

What it looks like: Yellow-throated Warbler is a small songbird with a yellow throat and chest, gray back, black face connecting to stripes down sides, a white eye stripe and ear patch, and two white wing bars.

The normal breeding range of the Yellow-throated Warbler is more southerly, reaching as far north as New Jersey. Birds occurring in Connecticut are “overshoots” and likely will not find a mate and nest. Its wintering range is more northerly than most North American warblers where we find it wintering in Florida, coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and coastal Alabama and Mississippi.
 
How to find it: This species breeds in pine forest, sycamore-bald cypress swamp, and riparian woodland. In migration and winter, it can be found in a variety of woodland, scrub, brush and thicket micro-habitats but most frequently in pine woodland when in Connecticut. Look for a bird foraging as it creeps along tree branches, investigates cracks, crevices, and the tight bundles of pine needles.
What if the bird isn’t there: Black-throated Green Warbler is also present in areas where you may find this rare-to-Connecticut species, along with all the other spring migrants now moving into the state.

Conservation status: Populations of Yellow-throated Warbler appear to be stable and may be expanding its breeding range northward. Keep your eyes open for pairs!

Bird Finder Bonus: Little Gulls have been frequenting Southold Harbor and were seen as recently as April 16.

Connecticut Audubon Bird Finder is edited by Tom Andersen.
Photo courtesy of Dominic Sherony.
 
To receive future Connecticut Bird Finders by email, send your name and town to tandersen@ctaudubon.org.