Bananaquit vs. Adelaide's Warbler

The face: similar eyebrows, different throats

The Bananaquit has a black or very dark crown and face sides and a long, bold white eyebrow. Below, the throat is pale gray; bright yellow appears on the breast and belly. That pale throat is the quickest separating mark.

Adelaide's Warbler also has a pale eyebrow, but it is yellow in front of the eye and turns white behind it, with a white arc below the eye and a slate-gray crown with a thin black stripe. From chin to breast it is lemon-yellow, the belly is paler yellow, and the undertail coverts are white.

Bill, wings, and tail

The Bananaquit's bill is black, pointed, and down-curved, adapted for nectar; its tongue ends in a long paddle-shaped tip. On the dark wing it has a small white spot on the flight feathers, and the rump is yellow, which shows when it flies away.

Adelaide's Warbler has the fine bill of an insect-eating warbler, without the Bananaquit's curve. Its wings show two white bars formed by the tips of the coverts, and the dark tail has white on the three outer feathers on each side, visible when it fans the tail while moving through branches.

What they eat and how they move

The Bananaquit lives on nectar and fruit. It hangs upside down from flowers, pierces fruit to drink the juice, and sometimes pierces a flower from the side to rob nectar without pollinating it. It also eats small insects and competes with hummingbirds at flowers and feeders.

Adelaide's Warbler hunts insects and other arthropods, gleaning at least half its prey from leaves, from ground level up to about 10 meters. It joins mixed flocks with other warblers and Puerto Rican Todies. If the bird is buried in a flower or at a feeder, it is almost certainly a Bananaquit.

Where to look for each

The Bananaquit occurs across almost all of Puerto Rico and its satellite islands, from urban gardens to forest edges, though it is rare on the highest peaks and in the driest lowlands. It appears to be absent from Mona, Monito, and Desecheo. In the atlas it appeared in 87% of hexagons.

Adelaide's Warbler is endemic to the main island and Vieques. It is characteristic of the southern dry forests, such as Guánica State Forest, and also lives in the northern karst and in secondary forests. It is a year-round resident, so a June sighting is as valid as a January one.

Voice and nests

Adelaide's Warbler sings a loud trill that varies in pitch and speed; each individual can have more than 20 song variants. Its calls include a quiet, high pip, bursts of a harsh chit, and a chip. That repeated trill from dry-forest foliage is often the first clue before you see the bird.

The Bananaquit builds a spherical nest of grass and fibers with a side entrance, and makes new nests throughout the year. The atlas found breeding activity year-round, peaking from March to June. A round nest with a side door hanging in a backyard shrub almost always belongs to a Bananaquit.

Juveniles and other yellow birds

Juveniles complicate the throat rule. A young Bananaquit is duller and may have a yellowish eyebrow and throat, so check for the curved bill and the white wing spot. A young Adelaide's Warbler lacks head markings, is brownish-gray above, and has paler yellow; the wing bars still help.

Other yellow birds join the confusion. The Yellow Warbler (Canario de Mangle) lives in mangroves and coastal scrub, mainly on the south coast. The migrant Prairie Warbler (Reinita Galana) is olive above and yellow below and bobs its tail constantly. If you see olive and yellow in a grassy field, also consider a Yellow-faced Grassquit.

What is the difference between a Bananaquit and an Adelaide's Warbler?

The Bananaquit has a pale gray throat, white eyebrow, curved black bill, and a white wing spot. Adelaide's Warbler has a lemon-yellow throat and breast, two white wing bars, white in the tail, and a fine, uncurved bill. The Bananaquit drinks nectar; Adelaide's hunts insects in foliage.

Is Adelaide's Warbler endemic to Puerto Rico?

Yes. Adelaide's Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae) is endemic to Puerto Rico and Vieques. The Barbuda and St. Lucia populations were once treated as part of the same species, but taxonomic systems began treating them as separate species in 2000.

Is the Bananaquit a warbler?

Not strictly. Although it is called Reinita Común in Puerto Rico, the Bananaquit belongs to the tanager family (Thraupidae), not the true wood-warblers (Parulidae). Its classification was uncertain for years until genetic studies placed it with the tanagers.

Where can I see Adelaide's Warbler in Puerto Rico?

Look in the southern dry forests, such as Guánica State Forest, and also in the northern karst and secondary forests. It is a year-round resident, and its loud, variable trill usually gives it away before you see it.

What small yellow and black bird visits my feeder in Puerto Rico?

It is almost always the Bananaquit, or Reinita Común: small, dark above, yellow below, with a white eyebrow and curved bill. It is very common in yards and competes with hummingbirds for nectar and sugar water.

What does a Bananaquit nest look like?

It is a ball of grass and fibers with a side entrance, placed in shrubs or trees. Bananaquits build new nests throughout the year, and in Puerto Rico nesting is most intense from March to June.