Meet the Butter Butts

Learn what a yellow-rumped warbler looks like, what they eat, and why they’re nicknamed butterbutts.

1.  The Yellow Rumped Warbler is affectionately known as “Butter Butt.”   These birds are one of the most widely known and recognized in North America by the trademark lemon-colored rump patch as it flies away.
2. Butter Butts spend the winter farther north than other warblers, in places like NC, due to easy access to food.  They can digest the wax found in bayberries and wax myrtles.
3. There are two distinct subspecies, “Myrtle” warbler of eastern US / Canada’s boreal forest and the “Audubon’s” warbler of the mountainous West.  The “Myrtle” warbler has a white throat while the “Audubon’s” warbler has a yellow throat.
4. The Yellow-rumped Warbler breeds in monogamous pairs. During courtship, male accompanies female everywhere, fluffs his side feathers, raises his wings and his colorful crown feathers, calls and flutters.
5. A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a “bouquet”, “confusion”, “fall” and “wrench” of warblers.

Next time you are out enjoying nature at your favorite Camden County park or backyard, see if you can spot a “butter butt”. 

Source:  https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/yellow-rumped-warbler; Images: IG Audubon_NC and IG JoePostonPhotography