Kentucky Warbler, Geothlypis formosa, Cotton Hill, Fayette County, West Virginia. Our party had several of these gorgeous lemon-yellow wood-warblers in rich wooded mountain slopes.
This bird's specific epithet, formosa, means "beautiful", and that's an apropos descripter for this stunning songbird. Kentucky Warblers are far easier to hear than see. The male's rather husky chanting song - churee, churee, churee - is often delivered from dense cover. When finally, after much searching, one decides to show itself, the effort to find it is well rewarded.
This bird's specific epithet, formosa, means "beautiful", and that's an apropos descripter for this stunning songbird. Kentucky Warblers are far easier to hear than see. The male's rather husky chanting song - churee, churee, churee - is often delivered from dense cover. When finally, after much searching, one decides to show itself, the effort to find it is well rewarded.