Prairie warbler Dendroica discolor

Identification Tips:

• Length: 4 inches
• Small, active, insect-eating bird
• Thin, pointed bill
• Black line goes through eye and encircles yellow spot below
• Yellow supercilium
• Olive upperparts with rust streaks on back
• Yellow underparts with dark streaks on sides
• Yellow rump
• Dark legs
• Indistinct pale wing bars
• Adult male has brightest plumage, female and immatures duller with black face markings replaced by gray
• Frequently wags its tail
• Often found in scrubby habitats

Similar species:

Prairie Warblers typically have a distinctive face pattern but this can be difficult to discern in immatures. Prairie Warblers often wag their tails. Palm Warblers also wag their tails but are paler below with more streaking on the breast.

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