Bird Guide

Common Yellowthroat vs Mourning Warbler

Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)

Common Yellowthroat

Geothlypis trichas

Tiny10 gWetland

Common yellowthroats are small songbirds that have olive backs, wings and tails, yellow throats and chests, and white bellies. Adult males have black face masks which stretch from the sides of the neck across the eyes and forehead, which are bordered above with white or gray. Females are similar in appearance, but have paler underparts and lack the black mask. Immature birds are similar in appearance to the adult female. First-year males have a faint black mask which darkens completely by spring.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Jonathon Jongsma · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Keith · CC BY 2.0
Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia)

Mourning Warbler

Geothlypis philadelphia

Tiny12 gForest

Mourning warblers are small songbird with yellow underparts, olive-green upperparts, a thin pointed bill and pink legs. Adult males have a gray hood, black lores and a black patch on the throat and breast. In the fall, this pattern becomes less bright and harder to distinguish from similar species; however they never have a broken eye ring. Females and immatures are gray-brown on the head with an incomplete eye-ring. They have a yellow-gray throat with a brown or olive tint to their breast. Both sexes can range from 10 to 15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) in length and 11–13 g (0.4–0.5 oz) in weight. Voice: The song of this bird is a bright repetitive warble. The warble consists of rolling phrases that sound that typically lower in volume at the end and can sound like "chirry, chirry, chirry, chorry, chorry." The call is a sharp chip. There are usually two different pitched calls, with one higher than the harsh chip.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Jonathon Jongsma · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: kirk gardner · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Common Yellowthroat and Mourning Warbler.