In the world of birdwatching, there are some exciting colors to look for. The black and yellow birds offer a challenge for any birder in the United States. It’s not always easy to spot them in the wild.
If you’ve been one of the lucky ones you might be wondering – what species is it? There are a lot of possibilities. We’ll help you figure out which one with this blog post.
7 Black And Yellow Birds In The US
1. American Goldfinch
These yellow and black birds are found in the north-eastern parts of North America, especially in the United States and southern Canada. They enjoy feeding on sunflower and thistle seeds. Females are distinguished by their dull-yellow color, while male birds have bright yellow feathers with black wings. The continuous chirping of these birds in summer is considered to be a symbol of cheerfulness and warmth.
Its habitat includes meadows, farmlands, and urban gardens. However, they prefer to roost in coniferous trees such as spruces and pines. They use the cavities of trees for nesting purposes. American Goldfinch is highly social by nature; it lives in small flocks outside the breeding season.
Oh, and fun fact – American Goldfinch is the state bird of Iowa.
2. Lesser Goldfinch
The Lesser Goldfinch is a small American songbird. The small black and yellow bird has a brown back with darker streaks and yellow underparts brighter in color than most other finches. Its wings are black with white patches. The tail is dark with white outer feathers. Males are easily distinguished by their yellow underparts and black upperparts while females have grayish olive-green upperparts and yellowish underparts.
The small yellow bird with black wings breeds in the southwestern United States to Venezuela and Peru. Their breeding habitat is open mountain areas in scrub, woodland and gardens. They nest low in bushes or on the ground. These birds forage on the ground, mainly eating seeds and insects. They mainly eat seeds of various grasses, weeds, and wildflowers, also leaves of thistles. They sometimes eat berries or insects. They are also common at feeders in the southwest United States.
3. Western Tanager
The Western Tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Adult males have a bright red head, orange-red breast, and yellowish belly. The back and rump are bright yellow. Females have a duller red head and paler gray underparts than the males.
Western Tanagers breed across western North America, from British Columbia and Alberta and the lower western United States. In winter, Western Tanagers migrate to southern California and the Gulf Coast states as well as Mexico and Central America.
These birds prefer to eat a wide range of insects. Other food items include seeds and berries such as those from sumac and poison oak. Western tanagers may forage in flight or pick items from vegetation while perched. They will also take food off of branches.
4. Evening Grosbeak
The Evening Grosbeak is a large seed-eating bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is native to North America, where it breeds from British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south as far as Mexico.
The Evening Grosbeak is a striking bird, with a small yellow beak and yellow patches on the wings and tail. It is slightly larger than the House Finch and easily identified by its behaviour. It feeds on buds, twigs and insects in winter, and largely on seeds in summer; it has been known to eat small fruit such as that of pokeweed.
5. Hooded Warbler
The Hooded Warbler is the most abundant migrant warbler in western Washington, with some sources estimating its numbers at more than 2 million birds. The black and yellow bird’s breeding habitat is open wooded areas across Canada and central Alaska. During migration, some birds breed on the Pacific coast including British Columbia and winter in Central America and the West Indies.
This species is most readily identified by its brown-streaked back contrasting with yellowish underparts. The male has a black head with a yellow line running from the bill to behind the eye. The female is similar, but some individuals have a brown or gray head. A distinct characteristic of both sexes is the white eyebrow stripe visible in the field.
6. Yellow-Headed Blackbird
The Yellow-Headed Blackbird is a medium-sized blackbird, with relatively dull plumage but an unmistakable head pattern. The male has black upperparts and tail, and rich yellow underparts; its bill is heavy and dark. The female is mainly brown with a dull yellowish throat and breast. Immature birds are like the female but somewhat pale and they lack the distinctive head pattern of the adult.
The breeding habitat of this black and yellow bird is wet sedge meadows, bogs and the edges of shallow lakes across Canada, Alaska, northern New England, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana and Oregon in the United States.
This blackbird with yellow breast is a migratory bird and winters in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America. This species will also spend winter on the Pacific coast of California and occasionally as far south as coastal Baja California. However, this species is more often seen than heard within its range because it is shy and secretive.
7. Baltimore Oriole
The Baltimore oriole is a medium-sized icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male’s colors to those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore.
The Baltimore oriole yellow and black bird lives in woods and gardens throughout its range, which stretches north to southern Canada and south to Mexico. It prefers deciduous trees for breeding and relies on us humans heavily, as we provide it with the nesting materials it needs to build its rather flimsy-looking nest (which is often mistaken as a bunch of trash hanging off the branch of a tree).
This yellow and black bird spends its winters in Central America and northern South America, although it is a rare non-breeding visitor to the Western Europe. It migrates through Florida and along the Gulf of Mexico coast, with casual sightings south of Texas.
In Conclusion
If you’re looking for a bird that is yellow and black, there are many to choose from! This blog post has given you some ideas of the different birds that match this description.
Have fun checking them all out on your next walk in the woods or while driving around town. And don’t forget to let us know if any of these interesting creatures cross your path by leaving a comment below or sending an email over to birds@seabirdsanctuary.docker.scottoldford.com with pictures attached.
