Episode 35: Yellow-Rumped Warbler – Voice of the Wild

This is Illinois Extension’s Voice of the Wild. A new wild voice in just a moment, so find someplace quiet, take a deep breath, and enjoy.

This warbler, affectionately nicknamed “butterbutt” for the squarish patch of yellow feathers on its rear, is among the first of the wood warblers to arrive in the spring. That appearance is met with some fanfare; It marks the beginning of those exciting spring days when colorful migratory birds seem to drip from every tree. The initial excitement can sometimes fade; butterbutts are the most common of our warblers, and so many come in those early spring days that every flitting and fluttering thing seems to be dismissed as “just another butterbutt.” But soon they’re sorely missed; by the end of May they’re gone. They’ll return in the last wave of fall migrants, and while their yellor rump will still be bright and the modest yellow patches bon their sides still visible, the streaked blue-gray of their upper body will fade to pleasing brown. A scattered few of these fall delights will remain through the midwest winter. They’re a rare and quiet gem In a snowy woodland, where they tend to stay near cedars and other evergreens.

This is the yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata) from the family of the wood-warblers, Parulidae

the yellow-rumped warbler’s chip, which sounds like a dry “check,” is the best way to find the bird in midwinter and if you learn that chip it’ll help you ID the bird in the spring as well; that’s because its song can be inconsistent. While it can trip people up, the variations are loosely united by a half-hearted trill that fades at the end. I’ll play a few variations on this second playthrough; here’s the yellow-rumped warbler again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for our bird sounds. And thank you for tuning in to learn a new wild voice with Illinois Extension.