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| Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 1 |
Common Yellowthroat warblers are common and even though their numbers have declined, it seems not to be a cause for concern. I would call it concerning, though. They eat insects. They don't really hunt, but seem to wait for a bug to fly by and then catch it. But they will fly after one now and then. They must go through a lot of bugs to feed their babies!
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| Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 2 |
I have no particular reason for highlighting this bird, except that I ran across one of the photos yesterday and decided to collect them all into one spot. I'm very proud of some of the shots, chuckle at others, and have wonderful memories of them all. I used to get up with the sun and go out with the cats for a bird walk. The cats upset the birds so that they showed themselves and were easy to photograph with a long lens and big camera. The cats never got a bird; they returned to the house with me. But they sure had great walks.
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| Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 3 |
I'm not a birder, so I can't say with certainty, but the birds with white caps I assume are male. The "duller" birds I think are female. There may be juveniles here. There are 17 races of yellowthroats in North America, I read. That is a lot of variation. You may think identifying insects is tough. I think identifying birds is near impossible. I am in total awe of you who know what you are looking at!
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| Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 4.1 |
All photos are confirmed identifications at iNaturalist.
I would never entrust myself with a bird ID unless it is a robin.
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| 4.2 |
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| 4.3 |
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| Juvenile? 5.1 |
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| Same juvenile (?) 5.2 |
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| And the same juvenile (?) 5.3 |
I also read that the adults do not fly directly to the nest to feed the babies. They drop the bugs and walk to the nest so that predators do not find it.
I feel better now with posting this. It snowed all day yesterday and will snow all day today. I have about a foot of snow now. Power is on and off intermittently because the snow is very wet and heavy. Only plows are driving by, so it is feeling lonely right about now. Seeing all of the colors of summer with these birds is very therapeutic.
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| Saturday's Critters at Viewing Nature with Eileen |
Hello Andree,
ReplyDeleteIt is concerning to hear that any bird is in decline. The Common Yellowthroat is so cute. You should be very proud of your photos, they look awesome to me. Great post and information. Stay warm and safe. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.
Your photos are great! Thanks for your visit. We have lots of snow here, too. Hope your power stays on for you!
ReplyDeleteWhar a wonderful post. The birds are very beautiful. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
ReplyDelete...they look like great insect catchers! Thanks for sharing this cutie that is new for me. Take care and stay warm and well.
ReplyDeleteI love these birds and we have lots of Warblers in our feeders today. Hope you stay warm and enjoy the week to come!
ReplyDeleteYour shots are great. I've never seen that bird as I am not a really skilled birder either. Stay warm.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful shots of the Yellowthroat.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit and happy weekend!
Such gorgeous little ones!
ReplyDeleteHello Andree. I can't think why you veered off to arthropods when you have a clear affinity to birds. I also cannot remember the difference between adults male or female even though I ringed many of them more years ago than I care to remember.That first picture is just great in capturing the birds' moment.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Phil. :-)
DeleteI hear these cute little warblers more often then I see them. I always stop my bike and crane my neck to look for them in the briars and such. Hope your power keeps coming back on with only short outages.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed these photos and remind myself it has only been 2 months or so since I heard the last one of the summer for me.
The yellow throat looks so colourful with that coat of feathers. Beautiful
ReplyDeleteVery pretty bird photos! Bird populations are in decline and sadly, cats do affect bird populations. I read this: “ Predation by domestic cats is the number-one direct, human-caused threat to birds in the United States and Canada. In the United States alone, outdoor cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year. Although this number may seem unbelievable, it represents the combined impact of tens of millions of outdoor cats”
ReplyDeleteHi, Mae. As I said, they were with me and under control. No damage was ever done. I do debate the methodology of those studies, but I understand the problem. Another problem: the terrific danger to my cats from coyotes, owls, falcons and hawks. They were inside the rest of the day.
DeleteI'd be interested to hear which parts of the methodology you find problematic.
DeleteHi, Dave. Two things, first: 1. I did read the actual study, the first one and don't know if there have been others; and 2. it was such a long time ago, so what I say now was my reaction from back then. If a new study has been done, I don't know about it and have not read it.
DeleteThe birds were catbirds if I remember: very aggressive towards cats. When I was a child, I remember how they and our cats (who were outside cats in those days) interacted.
The sample size seemed too small for me for the number of cats in the country and the different lives they lead. How did they determine the percentage of outdoor cats?
The mathematics was a linear progression. Simplified: if 2 cats eat 4 birds in 7 days, how many birds can 1 million or 2 million cats eat in a year? That doesn't account for the many other variables that would need to be accounted for.
I DO think cats can do irreparable harm (like New Zealand, Australia) to native fauna. I DO think cats should stay inside.
I simply don't want people to vilify cats because of what I feel is a faulty study. (Or even for a clean study, for that matter.) I don't want to see them massacred everywhere. There is that danger, although from what I see is happening in Australia the government has had to step in and legislate the control of cats, so perhaps I am overreaching.
I also mourn for cats because I know their personalities are given full expression when allowed outside at will. But my feelings are irrelevant. We have to keep the birds, and other wildlife, safe and we know that cats are stone cold predators. Luckily, my cats have mice and shrews to hunt all winter in the house. That keeps them happy.
For all I know, all of my questions have been addressed by this time. Thank you for asking.
For Dave again: I just had to add that I learned a lot about my cats on those walks. They always stayed by me, within eyesight. But one day a turkey vulture flew overhead. Its shadow passed over us and all three cats *immediately* flattened themselves on the ground, legs splayed. Once the vulture figured out they were not dead (it did not seem to mind my presence there) and flew on, the cats simply ran home to the back door which was within sight. They were also terrified of deer and ran home when they were spotted.
DeleteThanks for your reply. I appreciate the time you took to do it.
DeleteYellowthroat is a gorgeous bird. Looks good at hunting. Nice pics!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pictures of this Common yellowthroat.
ReplyDeleteA species I've never seen before, thanks for sharing.
Greetings Irma
These are great photos! I love this bird, whacking the caterpillars on branches, as well as their lovely colour. Ours have flown.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jenn. Oh, no! I had no idea they did that! I should have figured that out, though, because kingfishers batter fish against trees to kill before eating. A wriggly caterpillar, especially the big ones, could be lost and waste the bird's energy collecting food for the babies. But my beloved caterpillars! Thank you.
DeleteThey are pretty, i am not sure i've seen them around here. Figuring out which bird or bug or whatever i'm seeing is not my specialty, although i do like to watch them.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful little birds. Season's Greetings from Sharon's Souvenirs!
ReplyDelete