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Pretty sure this is a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Taken in january in Miami, FL.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hVOUF1XfnS7JuCZgtu_-3w?feat=directlink

With that yellow undertail, gotta be a Palm Warbler.

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Total birds seen: 217
Latest lifers:
Wilson's Snipe, Barred Owl, Eastern Meadowlark
Favorite lifers:
Black-billed Cuckoo, Reddish Egret, Wood Stork
Go Birds Go! Blog

Thanks Kryptos! Some day I will get these warblers right.

Oh yeah, definitely Palm Warbler (the one warbler I am confident with )

Yellow-rumped Warblers have the yellow above the tail feathers instead of below them. I can see how your photo would make you think Yellow-rumped, though.

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We did not inherit Mother Earth from our ancestors...... we have borrowed Her from our descendants.
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almost all of the palm warblers i see are on the ground.  is this what most of you experience?  there is much variation in them as well, and the ones i see are a little different than the palm warbler in the OP.  as stated, i agree with the ID stated above.  Nice shot.

natureboy:

almost all of the palm warblers i see are on the ground.  is this what most of you experience?  there is much variation in them as well, and the ones i see are a little different than the palm warbler in the OP.  as stated, i agree with the ID stated above.  Nice shot.

They're on the ground about 75% of the time for me.  It seems like in the spring I see them more in the trees than I do in the fall/winter.

The Palms are usually the only ones I usually see on the ground down here. To a begining birder as myself there also seems to be many variations of the Palms.

All of these were confirmed as palms, yet they all look different to me.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4zFOwshLSuNoTQ7bSTsF6w?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2KCHtsJS4OzLiHJaXK0hnQ?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UFyAfeaSwnbe41fdzGtY1A?feat=directlink

jetmedix, the middle pic is a beatiful example of an eastern palm warbler.  the rusty crown, yellow supercilium (unique to eastern), and yellow undertail coverts are textbook markings of this species.  i never get a look at them in breeding plumage, since the ones i see are usually during migration.  generally, while driving through ag fields in the fall, palm warblers get in the road and seem like they almost let you run over them before they get up and fly ~ 10 ft before landing in the road again and doing it all over again.  neat little warblers.  thanks for the input poormatty and jetmedix, as i'm sure this is a tough bird to ID for new birders.

There are two races of Palm Warbler - a 'brown' one and a 'yellow' one. The yellow one is seen in breeding plumage in your middle picture there - lots of yellow and lots of chestnut. It is confined to the coastline of the eastern United States. The brown race exists westward to parts of the central US, has no chestnut, and is therefore mostly drab brown and yellow while breeding. In addition, both morphs change significantly when they molt into their non-breeding plumages. I believe you can experience both races in some areas of Florida, so between races in molts, it's quite understandable that you can have a tough time with Palm Warblers!

 ::EDIT:: natureboy beat me to it! Took to long writing this, I suppose.

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Total birds seen: 217
Latest lifers:
Wilson's Snipe, Barred Owl, Eastern Meadowlark
Favorite lifers:
Black-billed Cuckoo, Reddish Egret, Wood Stork
Go Birds Go! Blog

Kryptos18:

There are two races of Palm Warbler - a 'brown' one and a 'yellow' one. The yellow one is seen in breeding plumage in your middle picture there - lots of yellow and lots of chestnut. It is confined to the coastline of the eastern United States. The brown race exists westward to parts of the central US, has no chestnut, and is therefore mostly drab brown and yellow while breeding. In addition, both morphs change significantly when they molt into their non-breeding plumages. I believe you can experience both races in some areas of Florida, so between races in molts, it's quite understandable that you can have a tough time with Palm Warblers!

 ::EDIT:: natureboy beat me to it! Took to long writing this, I suppose.

 

That middle photo actually looks like a pretty typical breeding "Western" palm warbler (and a really nice photo of one at that), which, as you said, is the form that most of us get during migration.  In this Western form, the yellow is confined mostly to the throat, supercilium, and undertail coverts, but it does have the bright rusty cap and some rusty streaking on the breast.  As this photo shows, even the "drab" Western form is very pretty in its breeding plumage.

The "yellow" form you mention, though, would actually be even more striking than that, as it is entirely yellow from throat to undertail coverts underneath.  Here's a photo I found online of one:  http://www.symbolicmessengers.com/Palm_Warbler_D7382.jpg   Like you said, these are mostly on the East coast, but they do stray to the west of that some as well.  Even in their nonbreeding plumage "yellow" palm warblers are usually pretty yellow throughout the underparts. 

In breeding plumage, both forms have the rusty cap and yellow throat, supercilium, and undertail coverts, but in the fall, they are one of the plainest and drabbest of all the warblers.  The best way to ID a palm warbler in the fall and winter is to look for a very drab brown warbler on the ground furiously wagging its tail up and down.  The pale supercilium and bright yellow undertail coverts (normally the only area that stays yellow in nonbreeding plumage in the more common "Western" form) are good marks too.  The only really similar looking warbler in winter is the yellow-rump, so if the uppertail coverts are yellow, it's a yellow-rumped warbler, and if the undertail coverts are yellow, it's a palm.  In Florida, you should get both palm and yellow-rumped warblers all winter in very good numbers, so you have the whole winter to study them and get familiar with them before all the other warblers start showing up again in March.

Thanks guys for all the interesting info! As always this forum and the people in it are invaluable to a novice like myself!

i stand corrected about the western bird.  i did not think that weastern birds had yellow in the supercilium at all.  as matty and kryptos stated, they do. 

the birds i see normally are in basic plumage and have a plain back, yellow supercilium and undertail coverts, and somewhat of a yellow wash to the sides and underparts (extent varies).  i have ID'ed as eastern birds for years.  the deciding factor being the strong yellow in the supercilium.  anyone disagree with this.

I looked it up in the Peterson warbler guide to make sure I didn't tell you wrong, and if I'm understanding correctly, both the Eastern and Western forms winter along the Gulf Coast, so you could be seeing either one, but it actually sounds like the Eastern "yellow" form is the one in bigger numbers there in winter, which I didn't know.

thats correct, both forms are present in winter.  i did not know the relative abundance.  with the bright yellow supercilium on birds i see, and if easterns are more abundant in winter, i feel confident that i've got it right.  thanks for the info poormatty.