Yellow-rumped Warbler

LC - Least Concern

N5B, N5N - Secure Breeding and Nonbreeding

SNRB - Unranked Breeding

not listed

The upperparts are gray with black streaking on the male, dark gray streaking on the female. There is a yellow rump, a yellow patch on the sides, and on the male a yellow patch on the crown. The underparts are white with dark streaking. The chin is white. The male has a black breast band.

5″ to 6″ in length

9″ wingspan

Coniferous and mixed forests

Late March to early June and August to early November

Abundant migrant, common breeder

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map

In 2011 all of the wood warblers were reclassified resulting in new genus names for almost all of them. The genus Dendroica, with 29 members, was merged with the genus Setophaga, with just 3 members. All of the former Dendroica species have been renamed to Setophaga. Yellow-rumped Warbler, formerly Dendroica coronata, is now Setophaga coronata.

The correct taxonomic treatment of Yellow-rumped Warbler remains a matter of debate. The International IOC World Bird List version 11.1 separates Audubon’s and Goldman’s warblers as separate species. A proposal in 2017 to the American Ornithologists' Union, now the American Ornithological Society, to split the species was rejected.

Myrtle Warbler

These birds were very small and moved quickly. Many of them around mainly eating seeds in the short grasses and some in mountain ash trees.

I just recently had my first experience with the Yellow-rumped Warbler & I wanted to share....

I noticed a male at my window feeders & it was very friendly & inquisitive. I decided to hold my hand out the window with seeds to see what it would do.

It immediately came to my hand, I got pictures & a video on my cellphone camera.

Urban parks host a large variety of wildlife if you really spend some time observing.

Location: Arlington MN

Hanging out with the Robins on my sidewalk eating raisins.  I think they must be building a nest as they were picking the dried grass from my window box liners and flying around the corner to my Miss Kim lilac tree.  Is that possible?  Do they nest in this area?

The MOU All Seasons Map linked on the Information tab shows Yellow-rumped Warbler common throughout Minnesota in the spring but nesting in just the northern half of the state. However, you have described typical nesting behavior.

If you see a nest in your tree, and if you can confirm it is a Yellow-rumped Warbler with a photograph, consider submitting a record to The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union. It might draw the attention of an expert because it is so far outside of the known nesting range. Anyone can register and submit a record. Here is the link:

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union

Location: Farmington, MN

on our feeders

Location: Minnetonka

Spotted in a maple tree in my backyard.

Location: 43.9980470, -92.4063770 (Olmsted County)

At least four of the Myrtle variety spotted.

Location: Washington County

Location: Cass County

Location: Duluth MN and Two Harbors MN

These birds were very small and moved quickly. Many of them around mainly eating seeds in the short grasses and some in mountain ash trees.

Location: Austin MN

For the bird watchers,
I thought at first I was seeing a redstart perched on top of the sunflower just outside my back door in Austin MN, but wait a minute, a redstart doesn’t have a bright yellow bib, nor do they have the white markings in the places this bird did. It was in a mixed flock of Black and White Warblers and Myrtle’s Yellow Rumped Warblers. In trying to find a match the photo that most closely resembles the bird I saw makes absolutely no sense at all, that’s the Goldman’s Yellow Rumped Warbler of Central America and Southern Mexico , but they do not migrate, nor does their range extend as far north as Austin Texas, much less Austin MN.

And of course, when I first saw it, it was in a perfect spot for a photo, not even 6 feet away from me through clean glass, sitting still in full sunlight. But I didn’t even have the cell phone on me, by the time I got back with a camera it was perched on the fence at the back side of our lot, in the shade of a big maple and just out of the range of the lens’s zoom.

Any more plausible explanations than a Goldmani suddenly developing a wanderlust and heading up to “El Norte” last Spring or a Myrtle randomly developing the same markings as its Goldman cousins would be greatly appreciated.

Location: Appaloosa Woods, Maple Grove, MN

and remember you are never alone...

Location: Cambridge, MN

I just recently had my first experience with the Yellow-rumped Warbler & I wanted to share....

I noticed a male at my window feeders & it was very friendly & inquisitive. I decided to hold my hand out the window with seeds to see what it would do.

It immediately came to my hand, I got pictures & a video on my cellphone camera.

Location: Rochester, MN

Location: Rochester, MN

Location: Maplewood Heights Park

Urban parks host a large variety of wildlife if you really spend some time observing.