What kind of bird is this?

[mmeyer]

I went for a little walk this afternoon and came across this guy buy a little water hole. They're not the greatest pics cuz I had to crop quite a bit. Is this a Gold Finch?

Thanks for any help

[sparcebag]

Its a warbler there are so many different kinds!! But My guess is a Myrtle warbler

[Steve Foss]

Mike, it's a yellow-rumped (formerly myrtle) warbler, as sparcebag said.

[mmeyer]

Thanks guys, why is it a formerly Myrtle? Did it change identities? Is is a fugitive? Just kidding, did they change the name recently?

[Steve Foss]

It's been quite a few years now since they changed it. Time flies when you've got birds on the brain.

[sparcebag]

stf how bout the other yellow rumped wablers one comes to mind Audubons,there are more,they renamed or all called yellow rumped??

[Steve Foss]

Within bird taxonomy there are "lumpers" and "splitters."

In this case the lumpers won. The myrtle and Audubon's warblers, formerly considered two species, are now lumped together into one species called the yellow-rumped.

However, myrtle and Audubon's are still considered distinct populations of the yellow-rumped. So instead of two distinct species, it's now one species with two separate populations. The myrtle is found all over the U.S. and most of Canada, while the Audubdon's is primarily a western race with occasional sightings in the east. They also interbreed where they both occur, making IDing each population out west even more complicated.

MM's is an adult male yellow-rumped (myrtle type).

In adult males in breeding plumage, the differences in populatioins are easy to spot. Audubon's has a white wing patch and a yellow throat, while the myrtle has white wing bars instead of a patch, and a white throat. The fact that MM's fella has a yellow cap on its head (visible in the second shot) makes it a male, and the white throat (visible in the first shot) makes it a myrtle population.

As another example of lumping, our now dark-eyed junco used to be made up of two species, the Oregon junco and the slate-colored junco. Now they are collapsed into the dark-eyed junco with six distinct populations, including Oregon, pink-sided, white-winged and slate-colored, to name some.

It's all too dang complicated, if you ask me, and can take away from the fun of just liking and watching birds.

[sparcebag]

I asked cause I have a Petersons field guide,I got it in probably 1961,Its almost memorized and so tattered I was thinking of replacement last year.