For this month’s bird in our 12 Months of Birding series, we celebrate spring bird migration in the North Carolina mountains with the Prairie Warbler.
You’re in for a treat when you come to our neck of the woods in the spring season because this little fellow and other warblers also head to Pisgah National Forest around the Inn on Mill Creek B&B. The Prairie Warbler loves to hang out in the shrubs by the Deck House and along the pond searching branches and leaves for its favorite insects to snack on.
Adult Prairie Warbler males are a bold yellow and have black streaked sides. Look for the black semicircle under its eye. Adult males can also have a chestnut-colored patch on their back. Female and young Prairie Warblers are a lighter color than the males, with a grayish head and white ring around the eye.
One interesting fact about the Prairie Warbler is that the male has two distinct songs – a territorial tune directed at other males and a song directed at females that are potential mates. Learn more at allaboutbirds.org/guide/Prairie_Warbler/overview.
[Photo Credit: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons]