Lucy's Warbler Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A very small, compact, and delicately built songbird with a short tail and a short, thin bill.

  Relative Size

  Slightly larger than a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher; smaller than a Yellow Warbler.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
• Color Pattern

  Adult males are grayish overall with a cinnamon rump and crown patch (both sometimes difficult to see). Female and immatures are duller, with rump and crown often a yellowish brown or reddish yellow.

• Behavior

  Forages acrobatically through thorny trees, much like a chickadee, looking for small insects. Males sing tirelessly in spring, in territories often packed close together. Most migrate to less arid habitats to molt, then continue their migration to wintering grounds.

• Habitat

  Nests in desert stands of mesquite, tamarisk, acacia, hackberries, and willows, especially along streambeds. May also nest in cottonwood, and at higher elevations in dry, open forests with ash, walnut, sycamore, and oak.