Yellow-Rumped Warblers are common birds in a variety of habitats throughout the southern half of the United States during the winter months. Their diet is more varied than other Warblers. They switch from a diet of primarily insects in the summer months to a diet of berries, including bayberries and wax myrtle in the winter. This enables the Yellow-Rumps to winter much farther north than other Warblers.
In the winter, their plumage is much more subdued than during the breeding season, showing faint patches of yellow in their ‘armpits’. Yesterday, though it was the winter solstice, was a short-sleeve shirt kind of day here in the Mid-Atlantic states. Sitting for 45 minutes or so between a marshy drainage area with some young trees and a stand of large loblolly pine trees, I watched a flock of Yellow-Rumps taking advantage of the warm weather to flutter out from the trees to catch insects on the fly and then return to their perches. Once in awhile they’d turn their backs to display the reason for their name – the conspicuous and bright yellow patch on their rumps. Of course, they’d only stay a moment before they’d sally out again for another insect snack.