Allrighty, well I met another birder, but she was quite rude. She came up to me to ask if I had a bird guide, but I said no, because I didn't. She wanted to ID some purple martins. I said, "Those are cedar waxwings," pointing to some birds above us, and she snapped back, "Yeah, I
know those are waxwings." Hmmph. At any rate, she was helpful in identifying the Yellow-Rumped Warbler for me. I was right all along, becuase the Myrtle Warbler is a variant. From Wikipedia:
"Three closely related
North American bird forms—the eastern
Myrtle Warbler, its western counterpart,
Audubon's Warbler, and the
Central American Goldman's Warbler—are periodically lumped as the
Yellow-rumped Warbler (
Dendroica coronata).
Since 1973,
American Ornithological Union has elected to merge these
passerine birds as one species. These two forms were apparently separated by glaciation during the last ice age, and developed distinguishing physical characteristics. When it was shown however that they were able to interbreed, they no longer qualified to be considered as separate species. The reluctance of some North American birdwatchers to accept A.O.U.'s change in speciation may stem from the changes in their "life lists". Technically, what before may have justifiably counted for two entries should perhaps now be cut back to one."
The females are a little boring, but they have a yellow patch on their ass. Thus the name.
The cedar waxwings that I saw are also beautiful birds that you don't see too often:
They're very colorful, but you have to look up close to see it. Boo-ya.