30 Yellow Birds in Southern California | With Pictures

From canyons to clifftops ‘The golden state’ is known for its beautiful beaches and surf culture but did you know it’s also home to some of the most stunning yellow birds in the world? 

List of Yellow Birds in Southern California

In this list, we’ll explore some of the incredible yellow birds, from the American Redstart, and the Orchard Oriole to the self-descriptive Orange-crowned Warbler, these sunny creatures are an asset to any skyline. 

Hooded Warbler

Scientific Name: Setophaga citrina

Males have black hoods surrounding their yellow faces and he often fans their beautiful tails to show the white outer feathers. 

Spending much of their time in dense shrubbery ready to jump on unsuspecting insects, their diet consists primarily of caterpillars, moths, beetles and flies.

The hooded warbler is fiercely protective, both of the leafy woodlands of North America and his holiday destinations of Central America and the West Indies. 

Yellow Headed Blackbird

Scientific Name: Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

As if they’re not already going to grab your attention with their breathtaking appearance, the yellow-headed blackbird has a call which sounds like a rusty gate opening!

Adults have a pointed bill which they use to forage for sunflowers, dragonflies and grain. Sometimes they’ll flip over stones or catch insects from the water’s surface. 

This species occurs in the wetlands and prairies of the western United States and Mexico

Orange-crowned Warbler

Scientific Name: Leiothlypis celata

The orange-crowned warbler has yellow underparts, olive-grey upperparts and an orange crown patch which is seldom visible. 

They forage openly flying from perch to perch and will even hover like the hummingbird whilst pursuing berries, insects and nectar.

This species breeds across the western United States, Canada and Alaska.  

Yellow Warbler

Scientific Name: Setophaga petechia

This yellow Californian beauty has a small round head and chestnut streaks on his breast. Females are a less dazzling but still delightful soft yellow. 

Warblers feed mostly on insects such as beetles and caterpillars and can be enticed into your yard with a birdbath or a few wild berries. 

Listen out for a sunny song which sounds “sweet! sweet! sweet!” These birds are common across North America and roam as far as Peru. 

American Redstart

Scientific Name: Setophaga ruticilla

This bird is the most spectacular combination of black, orange, yellow and white. The orange-yellow intensity is an indication of carotenoid levels. 

The redstart is a dietary opportunist, adapting to changes in habitat and season. Moths, flies, caterpillars, beetles, wasps and spiders are all likely to pass his pallet. 

Found throughout middle America, northern South America and the Caribbean.

Hooded Oriole

Scientific Name: Icterus cucullatus

The male of this California resident may vary in colour from pale yellow to bright orange 

He has a black face, tail, chest and bill which is beautifully curved to allow him to forage for a variety of insects, nectar and berries. 

His song is rapid and has been known to contain mimicry. You may hear it in his homeland of the South-Western United States, and Northern Mexico. 

Orchard Oriole

Scientific Name: Icterus spurius

This sleek songbird has a round head and a long, pointed tail. The colouring ranges from bright orange to deep burnished bronze. 

He feeds on insects and mulberries and builds a pouch-like nest in the scattered trees or open woods 

They are easy-going with each other and different species. Find him in Central America and Mexico. 

Scott’s Oriole

Scientific Name: Icterus parisorum

This beautiful black and lemon-yellow bird is commonly seen in Southern California. 

Purportedly, one of the first birds to be heard singing each morning, they spend much of their time buried in yucca plants! They also drink nectar by inserting their bill directly into flowers. 

You may find this early riser from the southwestern US to Oaxaca.

Baltimore Oriole

Scientific Name: Icterus galbula

Some Baltimore Orioles are a deep fiery orange whilst others, a warm amber-yellow. All have sturdy bodies, long tails and robust pointed bills. 

Males have a loud whistle but are fairly solitary outside breeding season. They nest in trees such as elm, apple, willow and maple. 

Common in eastern North America, the Canadian prairies and eastern Montana.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Scientific Name: Motacilla tschutschensis

This slender bird has a constantly wagging tail! The male has an olive-green upper with a sunny yellow underpart. The heads vary in colour depending on which subspecies they belong to. 

These birds are often seen near water. You may hear a high-pitched call note if you are in its vicinity. 

Their breeding range spans the Palearctic and into north-west North America

Dickcissel

Scientific Name: Spiza Americana

This petite seed-eating bird has a lovely yellow line across his eyes, a yellow breast and a grey crest and crown. Its plumage becomes evermore vivid during mating season.

Foraging in the ground for insects and seeds, they will likewise nest close to the ground in shrubs and thick grasses. 

Known to gather in large flocks around South America

Yellow-Breasted Birds in Southern California

These brightly-coloured birds come in a variety of colours, from drab brown to stark black and even rosy red, but they all have one stunning feature in common – their yellow breasts! 

Whether they’re adding their fiery presence to the bird feeder in your backyard or to the treetops of a dense forest, these yellow-breasted birds are a burst of California sunshine!

American Goldfinch

Scientific Name: Spinus tristis

This migratory finch sheds all but the wing and tail feathers turning him from a neutral buff to the most striking lemon yellow, a colour obtained from the carotenoid pigments present in his diet. 

The American Goldfinch uses his feet to feed, often hanging upside down from birches and alders. 

He ranges from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season to the south of the Canada-United States border to Mexico during winter. 

Tropical Kingbird

Scientific Name: Tyrannus melancholicus

This large flycatcher has a grey head, greyish-green back and lemon-yellow underparts. The sexes are not too dissimilar but youngsters have more buff-coloured wing coverts. 

Among the dietary delights are beetles, bees, grasshoppers, butterflies, fruit, berries and moths. 

From southern Arizona through to central America and South America, you may even catch this sun seeker as far south as Peru and on to Trinidad and Tobago. 

Western Kingbird

Scientific Name: Tyrannus verticalis

This splendidly muted flycatcher has an elegant grey upper and a lemon sorbet chest! They are aggressive and will chase away intruders snapping their bills and flaring some hidden scarlet feathers they keep under their grey crowns!

They like to wait on a perch ready to fly out and catch insects including bees, grasshoppers and winged ants. 

Breeding throughout Northern America, the increase in trees around the great plains has seen a happy range expansion for this territory-defending trooper! 

Cassin’s Kingbird

Scientific Name: Tyrannus vociferans

This emphatic little grey and yellow bird is similar in appearance to the western kingbird except for being slightly larger and deeper grey. 

They nest in open, wooded areas with scattered trees such as cottonwood-lined rivers, up to canyons and foothills, choosing oak, pine, juniper and pinyon trees. 

Summer residents of the American southwest migrate to western Mexico in the winter. 

Hepatic Tanager

Scientific Name: Piranga flava

This short-tailed songbird is a member of the cardinal family. The female is yellow and the male is red, the brightest parts being on the forehead and throat. 

The sweet song can be heard ringing throughout the pine-oak forests he calls home. Pairs are often found foraging together for insects, berries and small fruits. 

Ranging from South-Western United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and California) through to Northern Argentina. 

Scarlet Tanager

Scientific Name: Piranga olivacea

Both sexes of scarlet tanager have pale stone-coloured bills but males are vibrant red with black wings and tails whereas females are yellow-olive. 

Being hard to spot due to their penchant for nesting high in forest canopies, you may want to listen out for the distinctive chip-churr-chip-churr. 

A vagrant to California, nesting only in the Rocky Mountains, the scarlet tanager winters in northern South America and will visit feeders during springtime. 

Summer Tanager

Scientific Name: Piranga rubra

The striking summer tanager is highly skilled at catching bees and can even manage to catch them in mid-air! There is a huge diversity in colour between the sexes with females and immature males sporting pale green-brown wings with cheerful yellow breasts and the male being completely red all over!

Fairly common in the summer, as you might expect from their name if you want to encourage this beautiful bird to visit your garden or backyard, try planting native flowers which will attract flying insects.

If you’re trying to spot them, you might be lucky if you look in pine and oak woodlands but you may have to look very carefully as they prefer to enjoy the view from the very highest branches.

Summer tanagers migrate to  Mexico, Central America and South America. 

Western Tanager

Scientific Name: Piranga ludoviciana

Listen out for a deep song note which sounds like chuckling and if that doesn’t get your attention, adult male western tanagers have a vibrant orange-red face, jet-black wings and yellow breasts, shoulders and rump. 

Females and immature males are not as vivid in colour and are duller than yellow-green. 

They are widespread and show no signs of declining numbers. To attract them try planting conifers and putting out dried fruit or freshly cut oranges! Western tanagers arrive at their breeding territory in the spring and along with some insects and berries, they also enjoy the nectar. 

These small stunning birds are very distinctive and it has been said that they look as if they are blushing! They live mostly in open forests and high mountains but during migration may turn up in the most unlikely places. Look out for them across North America and Canada all the way through south-eastern Alaska, Mexico and central Colorado, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. 

Hooded Oriole

Scientific Name: Icterus cucullatus

The male of this California resident may vary in colour from pale yellow to bright orange.

He has a black face, tail, chest and bill which is beautifully curved to allow him to forage for a variety of insects, nectar and berries. They will often hang upside-down to drink nectar or catch their prey.

His song is rapid and has been known to contain mimicry. You may hear it in his homeland of the South-Western United States, and Northern Mexico. 

Cedar Waxwing

Scientific Name: Bombycilla cedrorum

This brown, grey and the yellow bird is named for the wax-like tips of his wings. The Latin name ‘Bombycilla’ means ‘silk tail’ referring to the smooth and shiny plumage and ‘Cedrorum’ of the cedars. 

These sociable birds are seen in flocks all year and will even groom each other! Sometimes, the cedar waxwing will eat over-ripe fruit and the fermentation will intoxicate the bird. 

Indigenous to North and Central America breed in southern Canada and winter in the southern half of the United States. 

Yellow Breasted Chat

Scientific Name: Icteria virens

Considered large for a warbler, these songbirds are olive-green with a saffron chest and what has been described as ‘white spectacles’ around their eyes. 

An unusual series of hoots, clucks and whistles are how this unyielding yellow breast announces itself. 

Eating a wide range of insects, berries and fruits including wild grapes, most leave the U.S. in autumn to winter in the tropics. 

Williamson’s Sapsucker

Scientific Name: Sphyrapicus thyroideus

Adult males have an opalescent black head, sides, back and tail, a scarlet chin and a buttery yellow belly. The females are so very different in colour that they were once considered to be an other species and were named the ‘black-breasted woodpecker’ instead!

Their dietary preference is for insects, especially ants which they will feed to their young.

Breeding in Western North America from Northern Mexico and as far as British Columbia. 

Evening Grossbeak

Scientific Name: Hesperiphona vespertine

The adult male has a brilliant primrose yellow forehead and body paired with a black tail and wings. He has a sturdy, conical bill and a yellow mask-like stripe over the eyes.

This gregarious passerine forages in flocks for insects and larvae in summer and buds, seeds and berries in winter and spring. 

A member of the finch family, the evening grossbeak is found throughout North America.

Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher

Scientific Name: Empidonax flaviventris

This solid flycatcher is shy but his bright yellow throat and belly should make him easy to identify. If you don’t see him, you might hear his lazy, buzzy song 

He feeds on a variety of insects, spiders, mosquitos, craneflies and caterpillars gleaned from mid-air or foraged from the ground. 

Breeding among the woods and wetlands of central Alaska through to subarctic Canada and Newfoundland. 

Brown Crested Flycatcher

Scientific Name: Myiarchus tyrannulus

This large flycatcher has a long-hooked bill, and is brown in colour with a paler grey throat, washed yellow belly, and red edges on the tail and wings. 

His range of call notes includes a fluid “whip” and various churrs and trills.

Fond of woodland habitats especially near water, he is widespread throughout Central and South America including almost all of Brazil.

Western Meadowlark

Scientific Name: Sturnella neglecta

Western Meadowlarks have an incredible black ‘V’ on their bright yellow chests. The upper parts are mostly brown or mottled in appearance. 

Their long, pointed bill helps with probing for insects in the ground. 

Preferring open grasslands he will nest on the ground across western and central North America. 

Small Yellow Birds in Southern California

Finches, warblers and orioles are among the many vibrant little birds you might see hopping hopefully on a feeder in a backyard or perched in a tree waiting to catch a cranefly in mid-air! 

Lesser Goldfinch

Scientific Name: Spinus psaltria

This tiny finch has yellow underparts, a black cap and greenish-black wings. 

They gather in flocks and use their conical bills to feed on grains. He is so small; he may be overlooked until you learn his descending call which combines two notes at once. 

Ranging from the southwestern United States near the coast, especially California and Texas.

Common Yellowthroat Warbler

Scientific Name: Geothlypis trichas

This small American songbird has an olive back, wings and tail, a yellow throat and chest and a white belly. He has a sharp black facemask across his eyes.

They spend a lot of time close to the ground in search of grasshoppers, dragonflies, grubs, beetles and aphids. 

A prolific breeder throughout North America especially the Midwest where it’s also known as a bandit warbler. 

Wilson’s Warbler

Scientific Name: Cardellina pusilla

This petite passerine has a green-brown back and yellow underparts. 

They are industrious foragers and move quickly through shrubs gathering up caterpillars, beetles and bees. 

Prolific throughout North America, the west more so than the west, they take their winters in Mexico and as far as Panama.