Even if you’re not a bird enthusiast, chances are you’ve seen or heard of a small yellow bird at some point in your life. These birds bear striking hues that are among the most common colors for bird feathers.
However, it can be hard to identify small yellow birds since there are billions of birds that can be categorized into over 11,000 species. Like other living animals, avians are also unique in appearance, behavior, feeding habits, etc.
If you need a hand in identifying these small yellow birds, you’ve come to the right place! These birds will be discussed in the following sections, along with their pictures to help you get acquainted with them.
25 Small Yellow Birds
1. American Goldfinch
| Scientific Name: | Spinus tristis |
| Length: | 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.4–0.7 oz (11–20 g) |
| Wingspan: | 7.5–8.7 in (19–22 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Bright yellow with black wings and tail |
Native to North America, the American Goldfinch is also known as the Eastern Goldfinch or the Wild Canary bird. It is the most popular and recognizable yellow songbird in the United States.
The name of the American Goldfinch is a nod to the bright yellow feathers on its body, highlighted by a black cap, wings, and tail. Their wings are also accentuated with white stripes. Further, the males are notably colorful in spring but fade to a duller brown, like females in winter.
American Goldfinches can be spotted in most of North America and typically reside there year-round. However, those from Canada and the Midwest migrate to southern states when winter comes.
Though I easily spot American Goldfinches in backyards and parks, especially in the countryside, I have a habit of attracting these birds to beautify my garden with their presence. I have planted thistles or milkweeds as I have researched that they are drawn to these plants.
Apart from these, I have also noticed that they love nyjer and sunflower seeds, so I put those in my bird feeders, and I really find them effective.
2. Yellow Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Setophaga petechia |
| Length: | 4.7–5.1 in (12–13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.3–0.4 oz (9–11 g) |
| Wingspan: | 6.3–7.9 in (16–20 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Bright yellow with a hint of green and greenish-yellow tail |
A Yellow Warbler is a very tiny yellow bird that feeds on insects like caterpillars, wasps, beetles, bugs, and more. Because of this, it might be challenging to entice these birds to visit your backyard.
However, Yellow Warblers are teeming in the northern part of the United States and most of Canada to breed during summer. When winter comes, they migrate back to Central and South America.
These birds have bright yellow bodies with a hint of green and greenish-yellow tails. Males have reddish-brown streaks on their breasts, while females and young birds have lighter yellow colors.
They are quite large in population, so you can spot Yellow Warblers inhabiting trees or bushes near streams, marshes, gardens, and swamps during the breeding season.
Cowbirds usually lay their eggs in Yellow Warblers’ nests. Yellow Warblers address this by stacking new nests on top of the old nest and eggs up to six times.
3. Western Tanager
| Scientific Name: | Piranga ludoviciana |
| Length: | 6.3–7.5 in (16–19 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.8–1.3 oz (24–36 g) |
| Wingspan: | 11.5 in (29 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Males are vibrant yellow with orange-red heads and black wings. Females are yellow-green with red faces and gray wings. |
Another yellow small bird is the Western Tanager, which stands out because of the red coloring on its head and its black wings. However, it can be a bit difficult to set eyes on them because they prefer to stay in the canopy of open forests.
Though both genders have predominantly yellow tones, male Western Tanagers sport vivid yellow while females have more of a paler, yellow-green color.
Moreover, males have a flaming orange-red head, while females have a softer red on their faces.
Western Tanagers migrate to the western part of the United States and western Canada to breed. Then, they go to Mexico and Central America during winter.
Food for these little yellow birds is mainly insects like grasshoppers and wasps for the summer. Fruit is acceptable during fall and winter, so you can try to attract them with cut oranges or dried fruit.
4. Prothonotary Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Protonotaria citrea |
| Length: | 5.1 in (13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.44 oz (12.5 g) |
| Wingspan: | 8.75 in (22 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Bright yellow with blue-gray wings and tail |
The male and female Prothonotary Warbler both have lemon-yellow bodies complemented by blue-gray wings and tails. Though females are less bright than males, their beaks, eyes, and legs are both gray.
These bright yellow small birds also have a loud, charming song that can either be a mating call or a territorial defense mechanism.
If you’re curious, their name is a nod to the yellow “hood” in their plumage, which brings to mind yellow-hood-wearing Roman Catholic scribes called prothonotaries.
Prothonotary Warblers breed in the wetland forests of the southeastern United States but spend winter in Mexico to the northern portion of Southern America. They typically reside close to streams and wet forests.
Their nests are usually abandoned woodpecker holes or tree hollows near water, where you can also find them combing for insects, snails, spiders, and more.
5. Western Kingbird
| Scientific Name: | Tyrannus verticalis |
| Length: | 7.9–9.4 in (20–24 cm) |
| Weight: | 1.3–1.6 oz (37–46 g) |
| Wingspan: | 15.0–16.1 in (38–41 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Bright lemon-yellow bellies with ash gray head, throat, and chest, and grayish brown wings |
The Western Kingbird is a large flycatcher that can be frequently sighted in the western United States. Its belly is primarily yellow, with the head, throat, and chest having ash-gray colorations and the wings being brown-gray.
As flycatchers, you can expect these small yellow birds to settle in trees or shrubs or man-made structures like fences or utility lines. There, they prey on insects by waiting for them to fly by before catching them in the air.
Breeding season for Western Kingbirds happens during summer in the western United States all the way to Canada. They move to Mexico and Central America, but some may pass the winter in southern Florida.
If you want to draw Western Kingbirds to you, you can design an insect-friendly backyard or grow elderberry or hawthorn, which they eat.
6. Summer Tanager
| Scientific Name: | Piranga rubra |
| Length: | 6.7 in (17 cm) |
| Weight: | 1.1 oz (30 g) |
| Wingspan: | 11–12 in (28–30 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Females have yellow feathers with a tinge of green on the back. |
The female Summer Tanager is a fairly common yellow tiny bird. Compared to their male counterparts, with bright red plumage and big, stocky beaks, females are primarily yellow with little green on their backs.
You can find Summer Tanagers around the southern and eastern parts of the United States during the breeding season in the summer. By winter, they’re off to Central and South America.
Summer Tanagers frequent open woodlands, but you need patience as spotting them can be quite hard as they like to stay on the upper parts of excessively leafy trees.
These small yellow birds like to eat wasps and bees but also enjoy feeding on insects like beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, and cicadas. To attract them, plant berry bushes and fruit trees, as they also enjoy berries and bananas.
7. Magnolia Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Setophaga magnolia |
| Length: | 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.2–0.5 oz (6–15 g) |
| Wingspan: | 6.3–7.9 in (16–20 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Bright yellow breast with black “necklace” and stripes down to the belly and black and white wings |
The Magnolia Warbler is a small yellow bird that has a distinct color pattern. A male’s belly is covered with yellow, but the streak of black on its throat that extends downwards as stripes to its chest makes it unique.
Males of these small yellow birds also have black and white backs, while females have lighter tones, almost grayish. The females also don’t have distinct dark streaks, unlike males.
For Magnolia Warblers, breeding season is spent in the northeastern United States and across Canada. Bird watchers can see them in the eastern area as they migrate to Central America and the Caribbean in winter.
They also perch on low branches in parks or forests while migrating. During migration, they won’t stop at birdfeeders since they like to eat insects and spiders, but they might stay the night in areas with native trees or bushes.
8. Common Yellowthroat
| Scientific Name: | Geothlypis trichas |
| Length: | 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.3–0.3 oz (9–10 g) |
| Wingspan: | 5.9–7.5 in (15–19 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Both sexes have bright yellow throats and breasts with olive-colored backs; males have black masks on their faces. |
The Common Yellowthroat frequents marshy or damp areas and shrubberies. They like to live in dense and tangled vegetation areas.
These small yellow birds are commonly tawny on the back and bright yellow on the underside. As their name suggests, their throats and breasts are yellow, which can vary geographically.
Males have notable black masks that are lacking in females. These masks are behind the other name for this bird, “Yellow Bandit.”
When breeding season comes, they breed throughout most of North America, excluding Alaska and northern Canada. They migrate to the south for winter, but some stay in the Gulf Coast and Pacific Southwest all year.
Females build their nests close to the ground in swampy areas held up by twigs and made of grass and thicket. They lay six eggs max and take approximately twelve days to hatch.
9. Pine Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Setophaga pinus |
| Length: | 5.1–5.5 in (13–14 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.3–0.5 oz (9–15 g) |
| Wingspan: | 7.5–9.1 in (19–23 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Yellow with olive-colored back, white lower belly, and gray wing bars |
The Pine Warbler is a little chunky bird that bears the colors yellow, olive, white, and gray. Their head and breast are yellow, while the backs are olive-colored. Meanwhile, the lower belly is white, and the wing bars are gray.
Like most songbirds, male Pine Warblers have brighter coloring, so females can look browner and possess more white markings on the belly.
As their name suggests, these little yellow birds often hang around pine forests, where they stay on the upper parts of the trees. They breed in the northeastern United States and migrate to the southern states in winter.
Though they’re insectivorous and like to eat spiders, beetles, caterpillars, and larvae, Pine Warblers are among the few warblers that eat seeds regularly.
This is why you can probably see them munching on millet, cracked corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and suet from tube and platform feeders, especially during migration.
10. American Redstart
| Scientific Name: | Setophaga ruticilla |
| Length: | 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.2–0.3 oz (6–9 g) |
| Wingspan: | 6.3–7.5 in (16–19 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Olive-gray with many yellow patches |
A female American Redstart is a little yellow bird with olive and gray hues. They can easily be differentiated from their male counterparts, which are mainly black with reddish-orange spots and white bellies.
You can find American Redstarts in the eastern United States, Canada, and the northwestern part of the United States during the breeding season. As they migrate, you can spot them in central and western American states.
Female American Redstarts lay up to five eggs which take less than two weeks to hatch. After a week or two, these chicks will leave their nest, which is usually situated near a tree’s trunk or large bush.
You can try luring female American Redstarts to your backyard by planting berry plants like magnolia and serviceberry. Nonetheless, these small yellow birds are also fond of eating insects.
11. Lesser Goldfinch
| Scientific Name: | Spinus psaltria |
| Length: | 3.5–4.3 in (9–11 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.3–0.4 oz (8–11.5 g) |
| Wingspan: | 5.9–7.9 in (15–20 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Males are bright yellow with black caps, white-patched wings, and black or dull green backs. Females have olive backs and paler yellow beneath. |
The Lesser Goldfinch is another tiny yellow bird that likes to reside in forests, particularly on the West Coast, Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Since they are a relative of American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches shares physical characteristics with the former. However, American Goldfinches are slightly bigger in size and wingspan and more brightly colored.
Lesser Goldfinches are a social species, gathering in large flocks in thickets, fields, woodlands, glades, and even urban areas such as parks and gardens.
They are also seed-eating finches, so you’ll likely find these yellow tiny birds foraging for seeds like sunflower and nyjer seeds. They also consume fruits from elderberry and coffeeberry and buds from willows, cottonwoods, etc.
Occasionally, Lesser Goldfinches will supplement their diet with insects like plant lice, but this happens mostly during summer. In general, though, 90% of their diet is made up of seeds.
Fun Fact: Unlike most other birds who lay white eggs, Lesser Goldfinches are known to lay very small pale bluish-white eggs.
12. Nashville Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Leiothlypis ruficapilla |
| Length: | 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.2–0.5 oz (6.7–13.9 g) |
| Wingspan: | 6.7–7.9 in (17–20 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Yellow body with a gray head, white eye-ring and lower belly, and greenish-yellow back and wings |
The Nashville Warbler is a small yellow bird whose body is mostly yellow. However, its head is gray, and its eye-ring is decorated with white, while its back and wings have greenish-yellow or gray tones.
Nashville Warblers spend the breeding season in the northeastern United States and Canada but stay in Mexico during winter. During migration, they can be spotted in almost all of the United States.
When it comes to nests, these little yellow birds prefer to hide theirs in woody plants near the ground. They weave their nests into a cup using bark, grass, and moss and have a habit of using porcupine quills as bedding.
Nashville Warblers like to take up lodging in scrubby territories and low deciduous forests, but if you live in southern states, you can try attracting them to your backyard during winter with suet.
13. Scarlet Tanager
| Scientific Name: | Piranga olivacea |
| Length: | 6.3–6.7 in (16–17 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.8–1.3 oz (23–38 g) |
| Wingspan: | 9.8–11.4 in (25–29 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Yellow-green body with olive-gray wings and tail |
The female Scarlet Tanager has a yellow-green feather all year, while its male counterpart has a normally bright red head and body, along with black wings and tail. During the non-breeding season, males undergo molting and turn yellow.
These small yellow birds breed during summer in the eastern United States and then migrate to western South America. You can try catching them during migration in the southeastern states.
However, this can be a bit challenging since Scarlet Tanagers like to be up in the forest canopy, where they also usually seek insects like moths, caterpillars, beetles, wasps, bees, and aphids to eat.
Meanwhile, female Scarlet Tanagers build their nests from loosely netted small branches, grass, and plant material. They put soft grass, pine needles, and other soft components inside.
With my father’s green thumb, he was able to grow several mulberries and blackberries in our backyard successfully. When the time came for us to harvest, I noticed an unlikely sight of a couple of small yellow birds feasting on the fruits, which I later identified as Scarlet Tanagers.
Upon further research, we realized that these birds are really fond of berries, including raspberries and strawberries. Though I didn’t mind sharing our bounty with these charming birds to attract them, my father started wrapping the fruits prior to full bloom to preserve and protect them.
14. Eastern Yellow Wagtail
| Scientific Name: | Motacilla tschutschensis |
| Length: | 6.5 in (15–16 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.62 oz (17.6 g) |
| Wingspan: | 9.5 in (24 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Bright yellow with paler throats, grayish-olive back, and black and white tail |
The Eastern Yellow Wagtail is a tiny yellow bird that stays in Northern Russia and Alaska in North America during the warmer season. It’s a long-distance migrant that travels to Australia and Southeast Asia for winter.
Unlike others in this list, Eastern Yellow Wagtails are ground-dwelling birds. Because of this, it usually builds its nest near water areas and hides in underbrushes.
These little yellow birds like to pick up insects to eat from shallow waters or open meadows. They’ll usually walk on the ground and make a fast run to catch the insects, although they will also catch insects flying mid-air.
Eastern Yellow Wagtails are bright yellow in their undersides but have duller throats and grayish-olive backs. True to their name, these birds frequently wag their tails while walking and foraging for food.
15. Evening Grosbeak
| Scientific Name: | Coccothraustes vespertinus |
| Length: | 6.3–7.1 in (16–18 cm) |
| Weight: | 1.9–2.6 oz (53–74 g) |
| Wingspan: | 11.8–14.2 in (30–36 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Males have yellow bodies, yellow eyepatches, black heads, gray necks, and white patches on their wings; females are mostly gray with a tinge of yellow |
An Evening Grosbeak is a chunky bird that boasts a large, strong, and conical beak that is comparable to the size of an American Robin. Their beaks enable them to open seeds that other finches can’t crack.
Adult male Evening Grosbeaks have yellow and black plumage, with a notable yellow eyepatch. Heads are black-colored, fading to gray at the neck. Their wings have white patches.
Meanwhile, female and younger male Evening Grosbeaks are predominantly gray, with a hint of greenish-yellow on their necks and sides and black and white wings.
These little yellow birds stay year-round in woodlands and mountain areas of the southern part of Canada and to the West Coast to northern California.
Evening Grosbeaks usually feast on flower buds in spring and insect larvae by summer. When winter comes, they turn to backyard feeders to eat seeds — such as sunflower seeds, their favorite — and berries and small fruits.
16. Wilson’s Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Cardellina pusilla |
| Length: | 3.9–4.7 in (10–12 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.2–0.3 oz (5–10 g) |
| Wingspan: | 5.5–6.7 in (14–17 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Bright yellow, with males having a black “cap” on the head |
A Wilson’s Warbler is a tiny yellow bird that breeds in Canada, Alaska, and the northwestern United States. They spend winter in Mexico and Central America, so they can be spotted across the United States during migration.
Both male and female Wilson’s Warblers are yellow, but males are more vibrant and sport a black patch on their heads that looks like a cap. Females have significantly smaller black caps.
Wilson’s Warblers create their nests out of grass, bark, moss, and plant material that is lined with soft grass and animal hair. They hide these on the ground close to trees or shrubs using leaves or thickets.
They usually set up lodging by the streams of shrubbery that are close to the edge of forests, where they also find insects to eat. They don’t stop by feeders, but you can entice them with natural trees or ferns.
17. Baltimore Oriole
| Scientific Name: | Icterus galbula |
| Length: | 6.7–7.5 in (17–19 cm) |
| Weight: | 1.1–1.4 oz (30–40 g) |
| Wingspan: | 9.1–11.8 in (23–30 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Yellow body and head with grayish-brown wings |
Both sexes of the Baltimore Oriole are actually colorful, but the female is murky yellow, while the male is closer to an orange hue. The back and wings of the female are also grayish-brown.
Baltimore Orioles breed in Eastern and Central States, leaving as early as July to migrate to Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean for winter.
These small yellow birds typically inhabit the upper open forests, riverbanks, and forest edges. Female Baltimore Orioles make use of their color to blend in with the trees when they make their nest during spring.
When it comes to their diet, Baltimore Orioles eat insects like crickets, spiders, snails, and beetles, visiting backyards and gardens to forage for food. They also prefer to eat fruits over seeds.
To attract these yellow tiny birds, try hanging oranges from trees or cutting them in half and placing them in a platform feeder.
18. Hooded Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Setophaga citrina |
| Length: | 5.1 in (13 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.3–0.4 oz (9–12 g) |
| Wingspan: | 6.9 in (17.5 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Males have bright yellow faces with black hoods and throats and olive-green backs; females lack the black hood |
It’s easy to identify a male Hooded Warbler with the black marking on its head that looks like a balaclava or ski mask. Its face and body are otherwise yellow, but the back is olive-green. Females don’t have black hoods.
Hooded Warblers are quite coy, so they like to hide in thickets, where they also forage for spiders and other insects. They breed in the eastern United States and migrate to Central America and the Caribbean during winter.
These tiny yellow birds make their nests out of bark, grass, and plant material close to woodlands and forest clearings. They lay about four eggs, which hatch after 12 days and leave the nest after nine days.
You can attempt to draw Hooded Warblers to your backyard with native plants that attract beneficial insects, which these birds could eat.
19. Black-throated Green Warbler
| Scientific Name: | Setophaga virens |
| Length: | 4.3–4.7 in (11–12 cm) |
| Weight: | 0.3–0.4 oz (7–11 g) |
| Wingspan: | 6.7–7.9 in (17–20 cm) |
| Color Pattern: | Yellow in the head with olive-yellow back and black-streaked sides and wings |
The Black-throated Green Warbler is an insectivorous small yellow songbird that normally breeds in coniferous and mixed forests.
When it comes to appearance, Black-throated Green Warblers have a distinct black throat that’s in stark contrast with its yellow head and face. The black extends on their sides and wings, with a whitish color present on their bellies.
They spend winter in Mexico, northern South America, and the Caribbean. During migration, you can spot them over the eastern United States when they travel to breed in the northeastern United States and Canada.
Black-throated Green Warblers like to find insects like caterpillars, beetles, gnats, aphids, true bugs, and spiders in tree branches, twigs, and leaves to eat during summer. They might eat berries while migrating, though.
Males of this species claim territories through singing or fighting with invading males.
20. Eastern Meadowlark
| Scientific Name | Sturnella magna |
| Length | 7.5–10.2 in (19–26 cm) |
| Weight | 3.2–5.3 oz (90–150 g) |
| Wingspan | 13.8–15.8 in (35–40 cm) |
| Color Pattern | Bright yellow with a black ‘V’ on the chest and brown and black spots on the back |
Eastern Meadowlarks are probably bigger than most of the small yellow birds in this list. Sadly, their population has been dwindling in recent decades due to the drop in the number and quality of their habitats.
To spot an Eastern Meadowlark, look for the distinct ‘V’ in their chests. Both sexes look alike, possessing yellow feathers most prominently on their chests and bellies. They’ll have brown and black speckles on their backs.
As their name suggests, these little yellow birds can be seen year-round throughout the eastern United States. However, they’ll also go northeast and Canada to breed.
Eastern Meadowlarks like to take up habitat in open fields, meadows, and plains where they forage for insects. When traveling south for winter, they gather in large flocks to look for seeds.
Their high-pitched singing that sounds like a clear whistle typically signals the start of springtime in the east.
21. Northern Parula
| Scientific Name | Setophaga americana |
| Length | 4.3–4.7 in (11–12 cm) |
| Weight | 0.2–0.4 oz (6–11 g) |
| Wingspan | 6.3–7.1 in (16–18 cm) |
| Color Pattern | Blue-gray on the head and back with yellow patches on the chin and breast and white on the belly |
A tiny, plump wood-warbler, the Northern Parula is a widespread bird that often stays in the dense leafage of treetops to forage for caterpillars, spiders, and many other invertebrates like moths, ants, wasps, locusts, etc.
Northern Parulas have blue-gray heads with yellow on their chins and breasts that become white down on their bellies. Females and younger birds have paler colors.
These small yellow birds are mainly seen in the east from spring to fall. They prefer to nest by the streams or bogs situated in mixed and mature forests. They also like Spanish moss and lace lichen.
Northern Parulas breed in North America from southern Canada to Florida but pass up parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and some states in the Northeast.
This is largely due to the loss of habitat and air pollution, which disturbs the growth of epiphytes that Northern Parulas favor while nesting.
22. White-eyed Vireo
| Scientific Name | Vireo griseus |
| Length | 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm) |
| Weight | 0.3–0.5 oz (10–14 g) |
| Wingspan | 6.7 in (17 cm) |
| Color Pattern | Gray head, white throat and chest, yellow-spectacled white eyes, yellow sides, with two white wing bars |
The White-eyed Vireos has a gray head with yellow on its forehead and around its white eyes. The yellow can also be observed on their sides, but their chests and throats are clad in white.
Often, these small yellow birds will nest in overgrown grasslands and thorny bushes while feasting on insects, spiders, and flies. They do this by moving between branches and twigs, wafting briefly before taking their meal.
The breeding grounds of White-eyed Vireos are across the southeastern United States, with those close to the coast staying there all year. The wintering grounds are on the southeast coast of Mexico and the Caribbean.
Both sexes of the White-eyed Vireos are tireless songbirds during winter. When spring and summer come, though, only the males sing, often from dawn until midday.
These birds frequently hide in dense foliage, but spotting it is not hard since they check out birdwatchers who stand near the bushes.
23. Dickcissel
| Scientific Name | Spiza americana |
| Length | 5.5–6.3 in (14–16 cm) |
| Weight | 0.9–1.4 oz (25.6–38.4 g) |
| Wingspan | 9.8–10.2 in (24.8–26 cm) |
| Color Pattern | Bright yellow chest and eyebrow with grayish head, black throat patch, and olive lower side; females lack the black throat patch |
A male and female Dickcissel share most of their markings and colors, but the male is brighter in color and has a black throat patch. Both sexes have yellow chests and spectacles, grayish heads, and olive underparts.
When it comes to their diet, Dickcissels feast on insects like crickets, beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars in the summer. Beyond this season, though, they’ll also feed on seeds, grasses, weeds, willow, buckwheat, etc.
These little yellow birds prefer to be in meadows and pastures, tall grasslands, and waysides. They breed in the Central and Great Plains of the United States.
Dickcissels gather during migration to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America in the fall, where their numbers could reach millions when they arrive on their winter grounds.
Meanwhile, female Dickcissels can lay six eggs max, which will hatch in a span of two weeks. The chicks will leave the nest after about ten days.
24. Yellow-headed Blackbird
| Scientific Name | Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus |
| Length | 8.3–10.2 in (21–26 cm) |
| Weight | 1.6–3.5 oz (44–100 g) |
| Wingspan | 16.5–17.3 in (42–44 cm) |
| Color Pattern | Males are mostly black with yellow heads and chests. Females are brown with duller yellow throats and breasts. |
Another one of the bigger birds on this list is the Yellow-headed Blackbird. The males are primarily black with yellow heads and chests, while the females are mostly brown with a paler yellow in their throats and breasts.
The diet of Yellow-headed Blackbirds is mainly insects like beetles, wasps, grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, and maybe spiders and snails in the summer. A trick that they use to flush out insects is flipping stones over.
That said, over 60% of Yellow-headed Blackbirds’ diet is composed of grass, weed seeds, and waste grain. You can entice them to your backyard with sunflower seeds.
This species nests in the reeds and breeds in western and meadow wetlands. For winter, they migrate in large flocks to fields and farmlands in southwest states and Mexico.
These little yellow birds lay two to five eggs that take around two weeks to hatch.
25. Kirtland’s Warbler
| Scientific Name | Setophaga kirtlandii |
| Length | 5.5–5.9 in (14–15 cm) |
| Weight | 0.4–0.6 oz (11–17 g) |
| Wingspan | 8.75 in (22.2 cm) |
| Color Pattern | Gray head and back with black-streaked back and yellow-colored belly. Males have black masks that females lack. |
Kirtland’s Warbler is one of the rarest migratory songbirds in the United States. In October 2019, it was delisted as an endangered species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service after being listed for over 50 years.
These little yellow birds have a limited range for breeding, one of the smallest North American birds. They mostly breed in north and central Michigan, with quite a number in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada.
Kirtland’s Warblers also only breed in young jack pine forests, and their nests have often been parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds. This is why they continue to be threatened and still need lasting recovery.
When it comes to appearance, these tiny yellow birds are primarily gray with black streaks on their backs and lemon yellow in their bellies. The males have black masks that the females lack.
Which of these small and vibrantly colored yellow birds caught your eye? Share with us your thoughts, feedback, and any questions you may have in the comments!
