Rufous-capped Warbler

About the Rufous-capped Warbler

The Rufous-capped Warbler is a small Mexican warbler with a bright rufous cap and cheek split by a bold white eyebrow, olive upperparts, and a clean yellow throat and chest. It carries its long tail cocked up over the back like a wren, a posture no regular Texas warbler shares.

It works low in dense, brushy cover on dry canyon slopes, gleaning insects from twigs and leaves, flicking that raised tail, and giving hard "chik" call notes. Pairs stay together on territory, and the domed grass nest is hidden on the ground on a slope or bank.

The species is common from Mexico to Colombia, and the United States sits just beyond the range edge: in Texas it is a very rare visitor - and occasional long-staying resident - in rocky canyons of the Edwards Plateau, Big Bend, and the Devils River country.