Thursday, December 11, 2025

Orange-Crowned Warbler

I saw an orange-crowned warbler on July 28th of this year in the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles below the Buckhorn Campground which is on the Pacific Crest Trail near a beautiful stream. I was actually focusing on a dark-eyed junco which was nearby, but because it was behind some small limbs it wasn't focusing well. I noticed the warbler when it flew, but didn't know I had decent photos of it until I got home and was reviewing my photos. 



The orange-crowned warbler has olive-gray upperparts, yellowish underparts with faint streaking and a thin pointed bill. It has a faint line over each eye and a faint broken eye ring. The orange patch on the crown is not usually visible. Females and juveniles are duller than males. Western birds are yellower than eastern birds. They can be distinguished by lack of wing bars, streaking on the underparts, and strong face marking or bright coloring. There are four subspecies, but it is difficult to pinpoint which subspecies we have because ssp. sordida is resident in Southern California and northwestern Mexico and the others all winter in Mexico or Guatemala and could have been passing through. 
Two different subspecies, above and below.


Range from Birds of the World. Light blue is wintering, orange is breeding, yellow is migration and purple is year-round. 

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