Kirtland's warbler Dendroica kirtlandii

Identification Tips:

• Length: 4.75 inches
• Small, active, insect-eating bird
• Thin, pointed bill
• Broken eye ring
• Grayish nape and upperparts
• Yellow throat, breast and belly
• White undertail coverts
• Streaked sides and flanks-sometimes across breast
• Dull white wing bars
• Dark legs
• Wags its tail
• Extremely limited range-breeds in Michigan

Adult male:

• Black lores
• Black streaks on gray back

Female and immature:

• Gray lores
• Brownish tinge to dark-streaked back

Similar species:

Other warblers that wag their tails are the Prairie and Palm Warblers. They have yellow rumps and yellow faces and lack the broken eye ring.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.