Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia

Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia rubiginosa. Photograph taken at the San José del Cabo Estuary, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, January 2015. Photograph courtesy of Carol Snow, Del Mar, California.

Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia sonorana, Breeding, Male. Photograph taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, November 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia sonorana. Photograph taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, September 2015. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

Yellow “Mangrove” Warbler, Setophaga petechia rhizophorae. Photograph taken at the Estero Huivulai, Benito Juárez, Sonora, January 2020. Photograph courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia (also known as a splash of yellow in a patch of willow), is a medium sized member of the Parulidae Family of New World Warblers. There are a total of 70 known subspecies of Yellow Warblers, many of which winter throughout Mexico. The Yellow Warblers are the most strikingly yellow of all the warblers. They also have variable amounts of chestnut streaking on their breasts, being more prominent in males. Southern sub-species have variable amounts of chestnut on their heads. They are highly migratory, heading south for the winter in August and stay in Mexico until early May when they return north into the Northern United States and Canada. They are found throughout Mexico at elevations below 500 m (1,600 feet). From a conservation perspective the Yellow Warbler is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are found in mangroves, swamps, swamp forests, deciduous forests and tropical evergreen forests. They consume mostly insects and small amounts of nectar and pollen.

The Mangrove Warbler sub-species (pictured above) is larger in stature and chestnut hooded (more prominent in males) and is found predominately in Central and South America.