| Mourning Warbler Identification Tips |
| (Credit: U. S. Geological Survey) |
| General
Information - Small, insect-eating bird - Thin, pointed bill - Yellow underparts - Olive upperparts - Pink legs Male - Complete gray hood - Black lores and breast patch - Breast patch less evident in Fall Basic, female and immature - Gray-brown wash to head - Broken white eye ring - Yellowish wash to throat - Breast can have brownish-olive cast Similar species The MacGillivray's Warbler is the western counterpart to the eastern Mourning Warbler. Fortunately, the breeding ranges of the two species do not overlap. Male MacGillivray's typically have broken eye rings while they are absent in male Mourning Warblers. Females and immatures of the two species are extremely difficult to tell apart and are usually separated by range. Connecticut Warblers are similar to Mourning Warblers but have complete eye rings and are larger. Female and immature Common Yellowthroats are also quite similar but lack a gray or brownish wash across the breast (although this can be indistinct in some immatures) and have white, not yellow, bellies. |
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