Friday, April 5, 2013

Yellow warbler eating bird seed

This bold little bird has been a frequent visitor to my balcony feeder.  It runs along the balcony anxiously as I clean the balcony and restock the birdfeeder. I think it is a Warbler but I'm not sure. I'm new to South Carolina and I'm not yet familiar with some of the species here.  Thank You.

It looks like a Pine Warbler: a yellowish bird with olive back, faint streaking on the breast, whitish lower bellies, and two prominent white wing bars on gray wings.

The Pine Warbler is the only warbler that eats seeds regularly. They like millet, cracked corn, sunflower seed, peanuts, and suet from elevated feeders in winter. They may also eat fruits from bushes and vines, like bayberry, flowering dogwood, grape, sumac, persimmon, and Virginia creeper.

They are partial migrants. Pine Warblers from the northern U.S. and Canada migrate to wintering grounds in the southeastern U.S. but the ones that breed in the Southeast stay there year-round.

We might see Pine Warblers in mid-Michigan from April to May on their way to their breeding grounds in the upper part of Michigan and Canada.


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