Colorado is home to a large number of birds with a significant amount of yellow on their body. If you’ve found yourself here I’ll be going over 9 different birds with yellow on their body that can be spotted within Colorado.

• American Goldfinch 
• Yellow Breasted Chat 
• Yellow Rumped Warbler 
• American Yellow Warbler 
• Common Yellowthroat 
• Wilson’a Warbler 
• Yellow Headed Blackbird 
• Western Medowlark 
• Lesser Goldfinch 

9 Yellow Birds In Colorado

1. American Goldfinch (Spinus Tristis)

• Size: 11 – 13cm
• Weight: 11 – 20 grams
• Wingspan: 19 – 22cm

American goldfinches can be found all year round near the northern border and eastern region of the state. In the remainder of Colorado, these birds will stick around in the fall and winter months when they aren’t breeding. 

These finches are recognised by their yellow, white and black plumage. Their wings are black and white, their forehead is distinguished by the small black patch on it, their under tail is white with the remainder of the body a bright yellow color. Females are far less vibrant with hints of yellow however, are mostly a light brown color.

American goldfinches are found around edges of forests and plains, around areas filled with brush and thistle plants.

These finches tend to mainly consume seeds that come from the daisy composite family, seeds from weeds, from trees like birches and elm trees, buds, the occasional insect, maple sap and berries.

American goldfinches are known to live between 2 – 4 years in the wild and upto 9 years in captivity.

2. Yellow Breasted Chat (Icteria Virens)

• Size: 17 – 19cm
• Weight: 20 – 34 grams
• Wingspan: 23 – 27cm

You’ll be able to spot yellow breasted chats all throughout Colorado when breeding season arrives. This will be around the spring and summer months. 

Yellow breasted chats are recognised by their gray/greenish back, wings and forehead, bright yellow chest and white/grayish underside of their lower half.

These avians like to spend the majority of their time within thickets among other dense grassy environments where bushes, shrubs and clearcuts are present.

As for the type of food these yellow breasted avians eat, they include small insects like bees, wasps, mayflies, grasshoppers, katydids, caterpillars, spiders among others small variants along with the smaller fruits and berries.

Yellow breasted chats also tend to live for around 5 – 8 years in the wild.

3. Yellow Rumped Warbler (Setophaga Coronata)

• Size: 12 – 14cm
• Weight: 12 – 13 grams
• Wingspan: 19 – 23cm

Yellow rumped warblers are breeding residents throughout most of western and central Colorado whilst nearer the eastern side of the state, these warblers will only be migrating.

These warblers are recognised by their gray and black wings, tail, back and head with a black mask like stroke across the eye, with yellow elements on the upper end of the wing, on the top and around the upper breast area. Females tend to be a  gray/brown color whilst males are a little more vibrant.

Yellow rumped warblers are often found around coniferous forests, especially during the breeding season whilst in winter they can be found in open areas with fruiting shrubs.

As for what they eat, it includes insects and berries where the insects are caterpillars, wasps, grasshoppers, gnats, aphids, beetles, spiders with the berries including bayberry, juniper, wax myrtle, poison ivy, and others.

Warblers are known to live upto 10 years in the wild.

4. American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga Petechia)

• Size: 12.5 – 13cm
• Weight: 8 – 16 grams
• Wingspan: 16 – 22cm

American yellow warblers can be spotted in Colorado throughout breeding season. This will generally include the spring and summer months when breeding.  

American yellow warblers are recognised by their yellow plumage with streaks of brown on its feathers and back. The males have a few more patterns to their plumage but, both the males and females are mostly yellow in color.

As for the habitats in which these little avians tend to spend the majority of their time, it would be bushes, swamp edges, streams and gardens.

Yellow warblers tend to consume insects and berries with 2/3 of their diet mostly consisting of small insects like caterpillars,
beetles, damselflies, treehoppers and more.

These little warblers are known to live upto 10 years. With that being said, they will live closer to 2 – 5 years in the wild as opposed to the full 10.

5. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis Trichas)

• Size: 11 – 14cm
• Weight: 11 – 15 grams
• Wingspan: 15 – 19cm

You’ll be able to find common yellowthroats in the eastern region of Colorado throughout their breeding season. 

Common yellowthroats are recognised by their mostly light brown/dirty yellow plumage from their head to tail whilst their throat is a bright yellow color. Females are mostly yellow with small elements of yellow on their tail and chin whilst males have more elements of black on their face.

As for where you can find these yellowthroats, they can be located around swamps, marshes, wet thickets, edges where they will often breed within wet marshes as well. They also nest within briars, moist brushy places, tangles of rank weeds and shrubbery along streams and overgrown fields.

Common yellowthroats are known to eat smaller insects like ants, spiders, beetles along with seeds and smaller fruits like berries.

These avians can live for around 11 years in the wild.

6. Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina Pusilla)

• Size: 11 – 13cm
• Weight: 7 – 8 grams
• Wingspan: 15 – 17cm

Wilson’s warblers can be found in central Colorado when breeding. Throughout the remainder of the state they will typically make their migratory journey to other more optimal locale. 

These warblers are recognised by their mostly yellow feathers with a black cap like area on their head and light brown wings. Females look very similar but, the black patch so replaced with smaller black dots instead.

As for where you’ll see these warblers spending their time, it tends to be around mountain meadows and thickets near streams, especially those with willows and alders

Wilson’s warblers are known to eat mostly insects like, bees, wasps, cicadas, etc but also can consume smaller fruits and  berries if they come across some.

7. Yellow Headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus Xanthocephalus)

• Size: 20 – 25cm
• Weight: 44 – 100 grams
• Wingspan: 36 – 44cm

These blackbirds can be found in all of Colorado when breeding. This tends to be around the spring and summer months. 

Yellow headed blackbirds are recognised by their obvious vibrant yellow face feathers, black wing feathers, beak and eyes. Their look is definitely more unique than the average black and yellow bird on his list but, their diet is more of the same.

This is because yellow headed blackbirds mostly consume seed and insects. The insects they consume include
beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, wasp among other smaller insects. They also consume the occasional berry.

Like other blackbirds yellow headed blackbirds tend to spend the majority of their time in gardens, thickets, hedges, broad-leaved environments and coniferous forests.

Yellow headed blackbirds are known to live for around 11 years on average whilst the longest known one happend to hit the 18 year mark.

8. Western Meadowlark (Sturnella Neglecta)

• Size: 16 – 26cm
• Weight: 88 – 116 grams
• Wingspan: 39 – 43cm

Western meadowlarks can be found scattered all across the state of Colorado on a year round basis. 

They’re recognised by their yellow and black plumage on their breast, a black, white and brown spotted pattern on their wings along with its pointy gray beak acting as another one of its standout features. Females on the other hand are more brown and duller in color.

These medowlarks can often be found spending their time in grasslands, cultivated fields, pastures, meadows and prairies.

Western medowlarks tend to eat insects and seeds with the insects including beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, ants, true bugs, spiders, snails, sowbug and waste grain seeds, which make up about one-third of their annual diet.

These medowlarks are known to live for around 10 years.

9. Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus Psaltria)

• Size: 9 – 12cm
• Weight: 8 – 11.5 grams
• Wingspan: 20 – 22cm

Lesser goldfinches can be found in Colorado bar the northeastern region of the state when they happen to breed. 

These finches are recognised by their black wings, back and upper head with the lower half of their body mostly yellow. A females plumage is similar but the darker elements are far duller.

Lesser goldfinches are often located in open brushy country, open woods, wooded streams, gardens that are generally semi-open as they like being around thickets and trees that are close to open weedy fields.

They are known to eat mostly seed with insects in the mix to make up for the protein where they specifically enjoy eating thistles, the buds on trees and berries too.

Lesser goldfinches tend to live for around 3 – 6 years in the wild and upto 10 years in captivity.

If you want to check out some other birds whether red, orange, green or white, click on each color to learn about them