It's only October 1st, but Common Yellowthroats are always ready for Halloween - they wear masks and sing "witchety witchety" #warblers#Algoma#birding#birds#birdphotography

I mean...at least I SEE the Kingfishers! Yellowthroats? Nope.

Common Yellowthroats are almost as bad for hiding behind the sticks as kingfishers!

Gorgeous shot! I call them Vulgar Yellowthroats. Hate that whole common practice of common naming.

I adore Common Yellowthroats, but that trick they play when they turn their head and appear at first glance to be a gray-headed warbler (like a Mourning or Connecticut) is a little cruel

My recent stretch of good luck with common yellowthroats continues. #birds

In Wisconsin, females choose to mate with males with larger black face masks, while in New York, females choose males with larger yellow throat bibs. We assessed phenotypic and genomic variation in several yellowthroat populations... 2/4 (drawings by the super talented @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social !)

The 2nd paper from my postdoc work on yellowthroat genomics is now online at Molecular Ecology! Populations of Common Yellowthroats in eastern North America have notable differences in sexual selection on similar plumage ornaments ... 1/4 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Sexually selected differences in warbler plumage are related to a putative inversion on the Z chromosome

Large structural variants in the genome, such as inversions, may play an important role in producing population structure and local adaptation to the environment through suppression of recombination.....

Forests are full of invisible restarts and yellowthroats!

I was complaining the other day about never getting good looks at common yellowthroats, and my complaint was heard. #birds