SMAP Round 76: Yellow Warbler Chicks

For this round of the Show Me A Photo contest, I would like to share this picture taken of a couple of American yellow warbler chicks (Setophaga petechia). Situated only a few feet off the ground in a conical nest, these little chicks and their yet unhatched siblings were a welcome surprise while on a walk around a local lake just last month. The only reason that I know that these little birds are indeed yellow warblers is because I caught their mother only a month before making this very same nest.

Since they were still too young to open their eyes, they heard me rustling through the bush to approach their nest and assumed that I must be their mother or father coming back to feed them. I tried to be as careful as I could approaching the nest, as to not frighten the chicks or accidentally knock them from their nest, and I was rewarded with these images of them nestled in their sanctuary.

American yellow warblers are a migratory species that typically establish their breeding groups in riparian or otherwise moist-soiled environments with plenty of dense woody shrub growth. Being only a few feet off the ground, these chicks are highly vulnerable to a host of predators ranging from snakes to crows to squirrels. Because of this, the yellow warbler chicks are forced to mature quickly and will typically have left their nest within 3-4 weeks of hatching. I'm glad I caught them before they did!

I hope that you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!