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Yellow Warbler

Status Common in summer. Breeds. An abnormally early individual occurred on Brier Island on 28 March 1965 (W. Lent), and birds on 15 April 1973 on Brier Island and on 14 April 1975 on Sable Island were also unusual. It normally arrives in early May (average 9 May, earliest 26 April) and is widespread in summer, although less common in non-arable areas and almost absent from coniferous woodlands. It is generally last recorded in October (average 15 October, latest 23 November). A bird at Wolfville on 25 November 1929 was possibly a late migrant, but an individual at Yarmouth on 20 December 1964 (C. Higby) was clearly an abnormal laggard.

Description Length: 11-13 cm. Adult male: Plumage mostly rich yellow but back more olive-yellow; breast streaked with rufous; tail dark olive-green, the inner vanes yellow; wings dark olive-green, the feathers edged with yellow. Adult female: Similar but paler; breast plain or slightly striped with rufous.

Breeding Nest: Neat and compact, composed of grass, weed stems, pieces of string, cotton wool, plant down and other soft materials, with a lining of plant down, hair and sometimes dandelion "fuzz." Typical nest sites are low bushes, very often in garden shrubbery, but sometimes higher up in deciduous trees. In June 1935 an extraordinary nest site was brought to my attention by Mrs. Fred Burgess. On her verandah at Sheffield Mills, Kings County, rested an isolated and unusually large potted geranium. Securely fastened to its branches was a normally constructed Yellow Warbler nest on which the female was patiently incubating.

Eggs: 4-5; greenish white, thickly marked with various shades of brown. Nest construction is well underway during the last of May and continues well into June. Sets of first laying are often complete by the end of the first week in June. A nest under construction on 20 May 1942 in a climbing rose in my garden in Wolfville is the earliest I have recorded. Usually only a single brood is raised but there may be exceptions. On 28 June 1949 a female was seen carrying nesting material to a new nest in a lilac bush, although the young from her first nest were still barely able to shift for themselves; my notes do not indicate whether this second nest produced a brood. I have known a pair that, having lost its first and second nests, started building a third but did not complete it.

Range Breeds north to near the limit of trees from Alaska to Labrador and south to northern South America and the West Indies. Winters from Florida and southern California to South America.

Remarks This is one of our most lovable and valuable garden birds. We await its return in May as eagerly as we do that of the robin in March, and we regret its departure in fall. Besides providing enjoyment with its beautiful form, colour and song, it works from morning till night devouring insects that attack our roses and other plants of ornamental and economic importance.

Pairs of some of the larger bird species stay mated for many years if not for life, but this does not hold for smaller species and certainly not for Yellow Warblers. In summer 1925 I banded parent birds that had just finished nesting in a rose bush on my lawn. In 1926 the same male returned, but while nesting operations were under way it was noted that his mate was unbanded. They nested that year close to the old site and later both were trapped; the number on the male was verified and the new female was tagged. In 1927 the male returned for at least a third time but the mate he later chose was not wearing a band. The nest that year was close to where the others had been, and the male was very tame; both members of the pair were again trapped and the new female was banded. Although his return in 1928 was eagerly awaited, the male did not come back.

On 1 June 1939 a nest was started in my garden, the female doing all the work. By 4 June it was about one-half completed. Late that day I saw the male come by, climb into the frail structure, turn and twist about a few times as though testing the workmanship, sing twice while squatting there and then fly off, seemingly well satisfied.

Dendroica petechia aestiva is the southern race which breeds on the mainland, but the northern limit of its breeding range in the province is not definitely known. Dendroica petechia amnicola is the northern subspecies whose incidence as a breeding bird in Nova Scotia was established by Godfrey (1958), who collected four specimens at Cape North in 1935, three during the breeding season and one on 10 September. He describes these specimens as intermediate between D. p. amnicola and D. p. aestiva but with more characteristics of the former. The two races cannot be distinguished from each other in life.

The Yellow Warbler's predominantly yellow colouring sets it apart from all other small Nova Scotia birds.