Nashville Warbler: Early May Migration through Northern Illinois

A Nashville Warbler, Rock Cut State Park, Illinois; 5/8/2011.

Nashville Warblers (Above) are one of many warblers migrating through Northern Illinois making their way to more northern summer homes. Nashvilles spend the winter in Mexico and Central America and their summers in the northern Great Lakes shores, Central and Eastern Canada, and much of the Northeastern states. There is a pocket in the northwest as well where Nashvilles can be found in the summer (Northern California, Oregon, Washington and northern Idaho). 

A Nashville Warbler, Rock Cut State Park, Illinois; 5/8/2011.

Identifying marks of the Nashville Warbler are its gray hood, yellow throat and breast, greenish back and wings with no wing bars, and a complete bold white eye-ring. The Nashville (Above) is likely a female as the males have more yellow underneath and have a small red patch on its crown; however, it is rarely visible.