Common summer residents across Alaska, Canada and most of the Lower 48 (except the Southeastern States), yellow warblers generally arrive from wintering grounds in Central and South America by late April or early May (depending on latitude). This morning, a friend and I encountered four of these colorful songbirds (all male) at South Platte Park, in southwest Metro Denver.
Active and vocal, yellow warblers flit among the branches of trees and shrubs, gleaning insects from the foliage or flycatching others in the air. They favor riparian woodlands along streams, wetlands and lakeshores where their nest is placed in a shrub or small tree.
By August, those that nest in northern latitudes are heading south, traveling by night and staying ahead of any early autumn cold fronts that might kill off their prey. After all, their primary home lies in the Tropics and North America is but their nursery.
