New Visitor to My Backyard

Yellow-rumped Warbler

This weekend, I had some unexpected visitors to my backyard.  I have seen these little guys at parks and reserves but never in my yard.  The Yellow-rumped Warbler or Myrtle Warbler in the East is versatile warbler.  They are able to eat a number of different things including the fruit of Bayberries and Wax Myrtles.  The wax on these fruit are undigestible for most birds.  This allows them to stay further north than most of the other warblers.  While most of the other warblers have headed south,  these guys are still around in Upstate New York.  

Yellow rump where they get their name.

My yard doesn't have a ton of fruit right now but the Yellow-rumped Warbler appears to be eating maybe ants or insects in the lawn.  My lawn took a beating this summer with the lack of rain.  I have a number of dead spots and these guys were foraging in those areas.

                                                                               Here is one forging in my lawn.  

It was fun weekend watching about 8 of these guys and hopefully they'll be back.  Happy Birding!  Have you had any unusual visitors lately in your yard?  Tell us about it in the comments or Facebook page or on Twitter.