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Setophaga coronata
A myrtle form of yellow-rumped warbler. They are similar in appearance to Audubon's, with a few distinctions. Myrtles have white, rather than yellow, throats, and the males do not have white patches between their white wing-bars.
Spotted in a tree at the edge of a slough.
Versatile in its feeding. Searches among twigs and leaves, and will hover while taking insects from foliage. Often flies out to catch flying insects. Will forage on ground, and will cling to tree trunks and branches. Males tend to forage higher than females during the breeding season. In winter, usually forages in flocks.
4 Comments
Thank you so much Hema for the ID. I just found images of the Yellow-rumped warbler winter plumage that matches.
Brian,this one looks more like a yellow rumped warbler!
A fascinating and unfortunate behavior for sure. Thanks so much for commenting Christine.
I found it interesting that they will eat salt off roads. I looked it up to learn more, and read that many pine siskins (individual and flocks) are killed each year by vehicle collisions because of this behavior. The birds don't move off the road quickly enough to avoid being hit. Also, the ingestion of large amounts of salt may also lead to more deaths. The dead birds are then often cleared off the road by scavenger birds. Interesting.