It’s bad enough to be informally called a Yellow-Rumped Warbler. But, when your full given name is “Eastern Myrtle Form Yellow-Rumped Warbler,” it’s time to go hide in the dense bushes. That’s what this little male was doing Tuesday (May 5):
He then rudely “mooned” us with his yellow rump:
His mate, who was flitting with him, also has a yellow rump, but her back is brownish:
The American Ornithologist’s Union dictated that each of five American warblers that had a patch of yellow on their lower backs should all be called a “form” of Yellow-Rumped Warbler. The one that we have here in Maine is the Eastern Myrtle form.
The powers that be did not name this bird Myrtle because that was their great aunt’s name. Myrtle warblers are the only ones that eat toxic wax-myrtle berries, which they do when insects are not available. That non-insect feeding helps them to be among the first and last migrating warblers that we see here. (Brooklin, Maine)