Mourning Warbler

About the Mourning Warbler

A skulking warbler of dense, low tangles, the male Mourning Warbler is olive-green above and yellow below with a soft gray hood and a black patch on the upper chest, as if in mourning. Females and young are duller, with a paler, grayish hood. It is a bird that keeps to cover and can test a birder's patience.

Mourning Warblers forage low in thick brush, briar tangles, and weedy regrowth, hunting insects near the ground and rarely sitting in the open for long. The male sings a rich, churring song, often from within the tangle.

In Texas the Mourning Warbler is a migrant, passing through mainly in spring and fall - most reliably in the eastern and coastal parts of the state - as it travels between northern breeding grounds and Central America.

A note from behind the lens: this is a low-and-shy skulker, so get down to its level at the edge of a thicket and wait for it to hop up. Soft, even light suits the subtle grays and yellows, and a clean opening in the brush is worth holding out for.