By Paul Noeldner
Friends of Urban Nature
Our Birds of the Month for April and May are two favorite spring migrants the Yellow Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Warblers are a family of small colorful bird species with tiny, pointed beaks that work great for catching and eating insects in bushes and trees. They go south as far as Mexico, Panama and South America for the winter, and return to Wisconsin and Canada to nest and raise their babies in spring. Please encourage less use of pesticides outside and leave lots of bugs for our bird friends.
Warblers can be hard to identify because many species of Warbler look similar. The Yellow Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler are brightly colored and quite common in low bushes and trees along the edges of parks and waterways, so you don’t need binoculars.
The Yellow Warbler is almost entirely yellow with rust-colored chest stripes. It sings a repeated whispy song that sounds like it is saying “sweet sweet sweet sweeter than sweet.” The Yellow-rumped Warbler, as its name suggests, is a greyish bird, a bit smaller than a sparrow, with a bright yellow rump and yellow wing patches. Birders have given it the affectionate nickname “butter butt.” It’s song starts low and rises in pitch, “tuwee tuwee tuwee tuweeweewee.”
You can listen to Yellow Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler songs and learn more about them at allaboutbirds.org. Load the Merlin app on your cellphone to help identify Warblers and other tiny, beautiful birds.
See the calendar in this newspaper or visit cityofmadison.com/parks to find free family friendly Bird and Nature Adventures that welcome newcomers, as well as other outdoor activities every week year-round in nearby public parks and natural areas.
