Bird Guide

Golden-cheeked Warbler vs Hermit Warbler

Golden-cheeked Warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia)

Golden-cheeked Warbler

Setophaga chrysoparia

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The golden-cheeked warbler is very striking due to its bright yellow cheeks that are contrasted by its black throat and back. It is also identified by its unique buzzing song emerging from the wooded canyons where it breeds. Golden-cheeked warblers breed in 33 counties in central Texas and are dependent on ashe juniper (blueberry juniper or cedar) for their fine bark strips used as nesting material.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Golden-cheeked Warbler
Recorded by steve · Song · Friedrich Wilderness Park (near San Antonio), Bexar County, Texas, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: datadan · CC BY 4.0
Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis)

Hermit Warbler

Setophaga occidentalis

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Hermit warblers are dark gray in coloration on top, and white below, and their flanks are streaked with black. The wings have two diagonal white wing bars. The majority of the hermit warbler's head is yellow, and males have a dark black throat, while females have much less black on their throat bib and immature birds have no black throat. Both males and females measure 5.5 inches (14 cm) in length, 0.3 to 0.5 oz (8.5 to 14.2 g) in weight, and 7.9 in (20 cm) in wingspan.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Frode Jacobsen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Golden-cheeked Warbler and Hermit Warbler.