Friday's Foto

Every year in early to mid-April, before the onslaught of colorful northbound warblers, birders around NYC scan the sparsely leafed trees with the hope of spotting a rare Yellow-throated Warbler. Unlike most of the wood-warbler species, this bird has a fairly restricted range, breeding farther south and wintering farther north than the others. Breeding in riparian woodland, sycamore-bald cypress swamp and pine forest from Illinois, Ohio, and New Jersey south to Missouri, Texas, the Gulf Coast, and northern Florida, they now appear to be expanding their nesting range northward. A pair was found successfully breeding on Long Island in 2015. Look for them creeping along branches, foraging for insects in bark and crevices, similar to a Black-and-white Warbler, nuthatch or Brown Creeper.

The IUCN lists their conservation status as "Least Concern".

Their scientific name, Setophaga dominica, means - moth eater of the West Indies.