most yellow yellow warbler

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Although many species of warbler have some yellow, the aptly named yellow warbler has the most. It’s the only one that appears to be solid yellow from a distance. Perhaps it should have been called the “most yellow yellow warbler.”

When you happen to find it with your binoculars, you then notice the yellowish olive-green back and pale chestnut streaks on its breast. Fond of willows, mangroves, wetlands and streams, it has a fairly wide range. I saw one last week along the Ten Mile Creek Greenway in west Knoxville although it was only passing through.

If all chickadees look alike, the same cannot be said for this species: Dendroica petechia. Instead of "Variations on a theme by Paganini," it's "Variations on a theme of petechia." Within its geographical range, there's considerable morphological variation. If nature loves variety, then he/she/it must love the yellow warbler.

Depending on which book you consult, there are multiple subspecies or separate distinct populations or races. Some references report as many as 35 subspecies. National Geographic states, “Northern races are greener above; southwest sonorana is pale with faint red streaks below; resident gundlachi of southernmost Florida is of the 'Golden' group of West Indian races...Resident subspecies in mangroves from Mexico south are known as ‘Mangrove Warbler’; adult males of most subspecies have chestnut heads; immatures of this and 'Golden' are dull.”

The subspecies gundlachi found in the Florida Keys and West Indies—the so called Golden or Caribbean group—is the most intensely yellow.

Got that?

Basically, this is all you need know: It's the most "yellow yellow warbler.”

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