Common Yellowthroat

Geothlypis trichas

HOW TO IDENTIFY:

* Length: 4.25 inches
* Small, insect-eating bird
* Thin, pointed bill
* Yellow throat and breast
* Brownish flanks
* Whitish belly
* Olive upperparts
* Pink legs
* Considerable plumage variation across its range

Adult male:

* Black mask with white upper border
* Bright yellow throat

Female and immature:

* Brownish-olive head
* Broken white eye ring
* Throat and breast not as bright yellow as adult males
* Immature males begin to acquire the black mask in the fall

Similar species:

The adult male Common Yellowthroat is instantly recognizable with its black mask. Immature males often have a semblance of the mask. Females and immatures are similar to female and immature Mourning and MacGillivray's Warblers but yellowthroats have whiter bellies and lack a gray hood or olive breast band.