Yellow-rumped warbler

On the 5th of January 1955 this sparrow-sized bird was seen in the garden of the School House in Newton St. Cyres, Devon. It stayed there for a few weeks until it was found dead on the 10th of February 1955 after a frosty night.

The specimen was identified as a male yellow rumped warbler and is the first example of this species to be recorded in Europe. There were a further 16 recorded sightings of yellowed rumped warblers in Britain and Ireland between 1955 and 1989, and there are likely to have been several more sightings since then.

During the winter months he would normally have been found overwintering in the southern United States and parts of Mexico. From there, yellow rumped warblers migrate to the northern United States and Canada to breed in the summer. Yellow rumped warblers feed mainly on small insects, but in winter they will also eat wax-myrtle berries, which give this bird its other common name of 'myrtle warbler'. The little bird was presented to the Museum the day after he was found dead, and was preserved as a skin in our collection. He was later mounted in a life-like pose.