

Profile

In flight
Songbirds
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
- epic
- 72 km/h
- Least Concern
Affectionately known as the 'butter-butt.' Digests wax from bayberries so it can winter further north than any warbler.
- Population
- ~170 million (global breeding population, Partners in Flight)
- Habitat
- Breeds in mature coniferous and mixed conifer-hardwood forests, from mountains in the west to sea level in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast; winters in open areas with fruiting shrubs, parks, streamside woodlands, pine/pine-oak forest, coastal dunes, residential areas, and in the tropics in mangroves, thorn scrub, and coffee plantations.
- Fun fact
- The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the few warblers able to digest the waxy coating of bayberries and wax myrtle fruit, letting it winter farther north than any other warbler species, sometimes as far as Newfoundland.
- Range
- Breeds across Canada, Alaska, and the western/northeastern United States; winters from the coastal and southern United States south through Mexico and Central America to Panama, plus the Caribbean.
- Diet
- Primarily insects (caterpillars, beetles, aphids, and other flying insects) during breeding season; also berries, especially bayberries and wax myrtle (which it can uniquely digest among warblers), plus other fruit, seeds, and even sap and spiderweb prey in winter.
- Size
- 0.14 m
- Wingspan
- 0.215 m
- Lifespan
- 10 years











