Plate 123 – Black and Yellow Warbler

In May of 1833, John James Audubon travelled to Pleasant Point, Maine, to meet and have talks with the Passmaquoddy indigenous people about the region and its wildlife. On the way, Audubon was treated to a light show of small flashes of yellow, black, and white. Audubon determined that most of the source of the flashes was the Black and Yellow Warbler. “In fact, so numerous were those interesting birds, that you might have fancied that an army of them had assembled to take possession of the country. Scarce a leaf was yet expanded, large icicles hung along the rocky shores, and I could not but feel surprised at the hardihood of the little adventurers.” The Black and Yellow Warbler is known today as the Magnolia warbler.