Feathered Friday: the Common Yellowthroat

I'd like to introduce the Common Yellowthroat--bird #10 on our Online Life List and a member of the Family Parulidae  (otherwise known as warblers).   Colorful small songsters with some extent of yellow to their plumage (there are exceptions), warblers get their name from their "warbling" songs and are spring and summer inhabitants of North American woodlands (they "winter" in Central and South America).

Spring is my favorite season of the year partly because in April and May, the warblers return in waves to our woodlands. For instance, a species that doesn't breed in your region might settle into a neighboring woodland to spend to a few days feeding and resting before taking again to the sky.  Others, however, will find their breeding ground near your own backyard (if woodlands are nearby).

In Clearfield County (where I lived before moving to Gettysburg), a creek  and woodland bordered my property.  Common Yellowthroats find this kind of wet, bushy  habitat ideal for breeding and each spring they returned--to my great delight.  And throughout the spring and much of summer, I'd see and hear them singing their characteristic song that some describe as "wich-i-ty, wich-i-ty, wich-i-ty," while I often also heard "the-witch-is-here! the witch is here!"

Wonder what the Yellowthroat's song will sound like to you?

Until next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!

Georgia Anne