Sunday best

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Although I'm used to seeing yellow-rumped warblers during the cold months in their drab winter plumage, I don't often get a good look at them in breeding plumage before they migrate north to their summer nesting range.

Two days ago I did. The trees above my deck seemed filled with the little sprites. The males strikingly dressed; the females less so, but still vibrant. It's nice to see old friends in their Sunday best, although the encounter made bittersweet by knowing they soon would be gone.

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show your rump

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While I was at Hugh Morgan’s observing the summer tanager I got to mark another thing off my “to do” list. A photograph of a yellow-rumped warbler’s yellow rump.

Even in drab winter plumage, the only warbler that spends the cold weather months in the Tennessee Valley still has the bright dandelion-colored field marking on its backside above the tail.

Rump. Tush. Tochus. Derriére. Duff. Bum. Whatever you want to call the spot, it’s spectacular.

Such a sight.

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yello rumpus

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This time of the year, yellow-rumped warblers are still dressed in their drab winter plumage; they're rather nondescript. But, if you watch long enough, they'll eventually present that which they are most famous: that flashy yellow rump.

They are the only warbler that spends the winter in the Tennessee Valley.



- Photos taken at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge

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