The Heralds of Fall

I always know the seasons have begun to turn again when the Yellow-rumped Warblers return to my yard. These birds are winter visitors in Orange County, and like the Ruby-crowned Kinglets, always signal that fall has officially begun. The sub-species we get here is the Audubon race, but when I lived in Santa Cruz last fall, we often saw both the Audubon and Myrtle races, and I learned to tell them apart after a while.

This little guy was foraging with a flock of Bushtits in my backyard.

Adult male-eastern(Myrtle Warbler):

• Black mask
  
• White supercilium and broken eye ring
  
• Small, yellow, crown patch
  
• Blue-gray crown, nape, back and wing coverts with black streaks
  
• White throat
  
• Yellow patch at side of breast
  
• Black patches on upper breast extend as streaks onto flanks
  
• White underparts
  
• White wing bars

Adult male-western(Audubon's Warbler):

• Dark gray head and back
  
• Broken eye ring
  
• Small, yellow, crown patch
  
• Yellow throat
  
• Yellow patch at side of breast
  
• Black patches on upper breast extend as streaks onto flanks
  
• White underparts
  
• White wing patch

*info courtesy of USGS - Patuxent Bird Wildife Research Center.