The Palm Warbler is one of the easiest warblers to recognize, thanks to a habit rather than a color: it wags its tail up and down almost constantly, whether perched or foraging on the ground. In spring it wears a rusty chestnut cap and a bright yellow throat and undertail over an olive-brown body; in fall it fades to a duller brown, keeping the yellow undertail and the telltale tail-bobbing. Unlike most warblers it spends much of its time low, often walking on the ground along field edges and trails.
Despite its tropical-sounding name — coined from its Caribbean wintering grounds — the Palm Warbler is a bird of northern bogs, nesting on the ground in spruce and tamarack peatlands in the far north, including parts of the Upper Peninsula. Michiganders mostly meet it in migration, when it is among the earliest warblers to appear in spring and one that lingers late in fall, foraging in open, weedy places where few other warblers venture.
Eats mostly insects gleaned from the ground and low vegetation during migration and breeding, and adds berries and seeds in colder weather. Its ground-foraging habit and willingness to take fruit help it arrive early and depart late relative to other warblers.
Watch for a warbler that constantly bobs its tail while foraging low or on the ground, with a yellow undertail and, in spring, a chestnut cap. The persistent tail-wagging is the quickest clue.
No. The name comes from a specimen collected on its Caribbean wintering grounds. It breeds in northern spruce and tamarack bogs and, in Michigan, is mostly seen as an early and late migrant.
It is one of the earliest warblers in spring, often in late April, and one of the latest in fall, lingering into October, frequently feeding in open fields and along weedy edges.
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