Two Subspecies of Yellow-throated Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Yellow-throated Warblers are one of my favorite warblers. They are one of our more common warblers here in Florida during Spring and Fall migration, but some can be found all winter long, and a few even breed here in the summer. We have two subspecies of Yellow-throated Warbler that occur here in Florida.

Yellow-throated Warbler (yellow-lored)

Dominica Subspecies (Yellow-lored)
Most of our Yellow-throated Warblers have a little bit of yellow on front of their eyebrows or supercilium and long bills. Up north they prefer Loblolly Pines on their northern breeding grounds, though when I see them here, I frequently see them in palm trees.

Yellow-throated Warbler (yellow-lored)

Albilora Subspecies (White-lored)
But on rare occasions we see some with all white on their supercilium and shorter bills. They prefer breeding grounds among sycamore trees, but I haven't seen enough of them here in Florida to guess what they prefer as they pass through.

Yellow-throated Warbler (white-lored)

It can be tempting to dismiss Yellow-throated Warblers in search of rarer birds.  But I still like to take an interest in these wonderful creatures, since it's always nice to see a white eyebrow among the yellow.