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Birds of Zihuatanejo

CLASS AVES

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Birds (Class Aves)

-New World Warblers (Family Parulidae)

-Setophaga Warblers (Genus Setophaga)

-Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)


Yellow-rumped Warblers are perhaps the most versatile foragers of all warblers. They're the warbler you're most likely to see fluttering out from a tree to catch a flying insect, and they're also quick to switch over to eating berries in fall. Other places Yellow-rumped Warblers have been spotted foraging include picking at insects on washed-up seaweed at the beach, skimming insects from the surface of rivers and the ocean, picking them out of spiderwebs, and grabbing them off piles of manure.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Setophaga coronata

Diet

  • Primarily insects, including beetles, caterpillars, flies, mosquitoes, ants, leafhoppers, and spiders.

  • During autumn and winter, feeds extensively on berries and waxy fruits such as wax myrtle, bayberry, juniper, and mistletoe, allowing it to winter farther north than most warblers.

  • Forages by gleaning insects from foliage, making short aerial sallies, and occasionally feeding on the ground.

Range

  • Breeds across Alaska, Canada, the western and northern United States, and high mountains of the western U.S.

  • Winters throughout the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

  • A very common winter visitor to the Zihuatanejo region, where it inhabits tropical dry forests, woodland edges, mangroves, pine-oak forests, gardens, parks, and scrubby habitats.

  • Two forms occur in western Mexico:

    • Audubon's Warbler (S. c. auduboni) – yellow throat (most common in western Mexico).

    • Myrtle Warbler (S. c. coronata) – white throat (less common).

Male / Female

  • Male: Grey upperparts with black streaking, bright yellow patches on the crown, sides, and rump, white throat (Myrtle) or yellow throat (Audubon's), and bold white wing patches. Breeding males are more sharply marked.

  • Female: Similar pattern but duller overall, with more brownish-grey plumage and less distinct black markings.

  • Winter plumage: Both sexes become browner and less contrasting, but the yellow rump and side patches remain obvious.

  • Sexes are similar, but males are brighter and more strongly patterned.

Size

  • Length: 12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in)

  • Wingspan: 19–24 cm (7.5–9.4 in)

  • Weight: 10–15 g (0.35–0.53 oz)

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