Yellow-rumped Warblers - Setophaga coronata

These guys have been flitting about my backyard for the last week. They're quite bold.  I swear that a few have deliberately swooped on to the fence or lower bowers of the hackberry trees just to get a better look at me. It took me a bit to identify what they were, as what I am seeing are most likely first year birds and adults in their drab non-breeding plumage. The telltale sign was the bright yellow patch on their rumps. As far as I know, these are the only wood-warbler species in the Eastern US that sport this feature.  The trees have been full of their 'chek, chek, chek' calls as they forage for arthropods and other invertebrates. I see them foraging on the ground a lot, too.

There's a reason that I have them filling up my yard. They migrate down from their coniferous breeding habitats up north in massive numbers. They are one the most numerous North American warbler species, and while their breeding habitat is pretty specific, they are more general in their foraging habitat needs. Hence, my hackberry treed, scrubby backyard suits them just fine.

Anyway, I was inspired to make a bird painting; something I haven't been able to do for a while. Notice that on my painting I have the scientific name as Dendroica coronata. After completing that part of the painting, I did some research. As a result, I just learned that all species formally placed in the Dendroica family are now being classified as Setophaga due to DNA work. I don't think this is that recent of a change, but for some reason I had forgotten about it. That might have something to do with owning a very old Sibley Guide.