20 Birds with Yellow tails

Have you been bird watching and have seen a flash of yellow colour on the birds tail? This article will look at a number of birds with yellow tails. I will use pictures to help with identification. In addition we will see where in the world we are likely to find them and in what habitat. I will include other information such as size and diets. 

A list of 20 birds with yellow tails (All image are of male birds unless specified)

1. Montezuma Oropendola
2. Yellow Warbler
3. Yellow-winged Cacique
4. Yellow-tailed Oriole 
5. Green Jay
6. Cedar Waxwing
7. Blue capped Tanager
8. Golden Oriole
9. Siskin
10. Grey Wagtail
11. Saffron Finch
12. Wilson’s Warbler
13. Female summer Tanager
14. Golden palm Weaver
15. Golden Parakeet
16. Yellow-rumped Thornbill
17. Northern Flicker
18. Yellow-tailed Parrot
19. Yellow-rumped Cacique
20. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Montezuma Oropendola (Scientific name – Psarocolius montezuma)

A very large dark brown / chestnut coloured bird with yellow tail feathers as seen in the above image. They also have an orange bill and a white spot under their eyes. 

An interesting fact about the Montezuma Oropendola is that they are known for their very unusual nests. The females weave hanging nests, made from vines and fibres and because these are social birds and live in groups there are many nests hanging from one tree, as seen in the image below.

Measurements	Length – 50cm (male) Weight – 520g (male)
Native to	Southern Mexico, Central Panama, Costa Rica & Caribbean
Habitat	Rainforests, cloud forests, tropical dry forests
Diet	Omnivore

Yellow Warbler (Scientific name – Setohaga Petchia)

This pretty little warbler is mainly bright yellow and certainly has a yellow tail. The males also have red/brown streaks on their chests and brown / olive backs and wings as seen in the image above. They have no facial markings and have jet black eyes, enabling an easy identification.

Measurements	Length – 12-13 cm Wingspan – 16 -20 cm Weight – 9-16g
Native to	North America, Alaska, northern Canada, winters in South America, See map below
Habitat	Wetland, marshes, stream edges, forest edges, pastures & farmland
Diet	Mainly insects, spiders, grubs, caterpillars & berries on occasion

Range map of the Yellow Warbler

Distribution of the yellow warbler

  Breeding range – Yellow

  Year-round range – Green

  Wintering range – Blue

Yellow-Winged Cacique – or the Mexican Cacique (Scientific name – Cassiculus Melanicterus)

The bird above is a Yellow winged cacique. It has a mainly black plumage with flashes of yellow on its wings, rump and under tail and a floppy black crest as you can see from the above image. Their eyes and beak are a whitish yellow. 

These birds have similar nest building skills as the Montezuma Oropendola, and are known to weave a pendulous looking nest as seen in the image below. Again these can be solitary nests or small social groups. 

Measurements	Length – 27-31 cm
Native to	Endemic to West coast of Mexico, Although some known in a small part of Guatemala
Habitat	Forest edges, thorny scrub,  savannahs, pastures
Diet	Insects, fruit, nectar

Yellow-tailed oriole (Scientific name – Icterus mesomelas) 

The shy yellow tailed oriole is a beautiful little songbird. With a mainly yellow plumage both the adults have a black bib, black wings with a flash of a yellow bar and a rather long black tail with yellow edging. 

Measurements	Length – 22 -23 cm Weight – 70g
Native to	Central & South America
Habitat	They prefer habitat near to water, marshes, woodland edges, swamps
Diet	Mainly insects

Green Jay (Scientific name – Cyanocorax yncas)

The green jay is a most attractive bird, with its beautiful blue colouring to the crown and around the eyes, the black running from its face down to the top of its chest, looks almost painted. The rest of the plumage ranges from olive green on the back to yellow on the underside of its belly and tail as can be seen in the above image.  

Measurements	Length – 25 – 29 cm Weight – 66 – 110g
Native to	North, Central & South America
Habitat	Humid rainforest and lowlands
Diet	Omnivore

Cedar Waxwing (Scientific name – Bombycilla cedrorum)

This attractive bird is known for its lovely almost fluffy crest, black eye mask and bib. The rest of its plumage on its back is a greyish brown, with red tips on the wings, these are actually waxy secretions. There are various theories on why they have these, such as to protect the wings, but as yet there are no firm answers. They also have a yellow belly and yellow edging to their tail, although interestingly this may sometimes be orange depending on if the bird has been eating berries. 

Measurements	Length – 15-20 cm Weight – 28g
Native to	Northern, Centra, South America
Habitat	Forests, parkland, farmland
Diet	Insects, fruit & berries

Range map of Cedar Waxwings

Blue capped tanager (Scientific name – Thraupis cyanocephala)

This beautiful coloured tanager has almost half blue, half yellow /green plumage and of course a yellow tail as you can see from the above image. These birds can be seen in mixed flocks, pairs or solitary.  

Measurements	Length – 16 cm Weight – 27 to 47g
Native to	Caribbean & South America
Habitat	Tropical & subtropical Forests, Shrub land,
Diet	Mainly fruit, but also insects & other invertebrate

Golden oriole (Scientific name – Oriolus oriolus)

This is a stunning looking bird mainly yellow with a very striking black eye mask. They also have black wings with yellow flashed and black on the upper part of the tail, yellow on the underside. Known as a shy bird found at the tops of trees singing. 

Measurements	Length – 24 cm Wingspan – 44 – 47 cm Weight – 56 – 79g
Native to	Europe
Habitat	Mixed forests & woodland
Diet	Insects & berries & fruits

Range Map for the Golden Oriole

Siskin (Scientific name – Carduelis spinus)

This sweet little finch is a lovely mix of yellow and black. It has a black cap and bib. Its tail is forked with patches of yellow. Unusually for a finch their beaks are quite long and slim. Native to Europe and the UK with an influx of winter visitors to the UK. 

Measurements	Length – 12 cm Wingspan – 20 – 23 cm Weight – 12 -18g
Native to	UK & Europe
Habitat	Forests, woodlands, gardens
Diet	Mainly seed, some insects

Grey wagtail (Scientific name – Motacilla cinerea)

The grey wagtail as seen in the above image has a grey – brown head, back wings and upper tail, whilst it has a lovely lemon yellow underneath, including its tail. As its name suggests and with all other wagtails you can see it wag its tail as it walks about. It is a lovely little bird to spot. 

Measurements	Length – 18 – 19 cm Wingspan – 26 cm Weight – 18g
Native to	Europe, Asia, Africa
Habitat	Prefers to be close to fast flowing rivers
Diet	Snails, Tadpoles, Ants & Midges

Range map of Grey Wagtail

Saffron finch (Scientific name – Sicalis flaveola)

This brightly coloured little bird is of the tanager family. It has an orange/ yellow head, with a bright yellow plumage, although this can vary with some birds having olive / brown streaks through its wings and tail. They have dark eyes and pink legs as seen above. 

Measurements	Length – 14 -16 cm Weight – 18 – 20g
Native to	South America & Caribbean
Habitat	Open & semi open areas
Diet	Mainly seeds & insects

Range map of the Saffron Finch

Wilson’s warbler (Scientific name – Cardellina pusilla)

The Wilson’s warbler  is a little bird and has an olive colouring plumage above and a brighter yellow on the under parts and the male has a black cap and dark eyes as shown in the image above. 

Measurements	Length – 10 12 cm Wingspan – 14 -17 cm Weight – 5 10g
Native to	North & South America
Habitat	Forest edges, water edges, meadows, thickett
Diet	Insectivore

Range Map of the Wilson’s Warbler

Female summer tanager (Scientific name – Piranga olivacea)

Both the females and immature male summer tanagers are all over yellow/olive coloured including their tails, as seen in the image above. They are very different from the male who is a bright red colouring as seen in the image below. 

An interesting fact about these birds are they catch their food, bees and wasp whilst in flight and will then land and strike the prey against the perch before eating. 

Male summer tanager

Measurements	Length – 17 cm Wingspan – 28 – 30 cm Weight – 29g
Native to	Southern part of North America, winter migration to central and north southern America
Habitat	Open woodlands & forests
Diet	Mainly bees and wasps, some berries

Range map of Summer Tanager

Golden palm weaver (Scientific name – Ploceus bojeri)

Another beautiful bright yellow little bird with a yellow tail is the Golden palm weaver, the male is as usual in the bird world brighter than the female. The male also have an orange head. These little birds, as with most weavers, have perfected the art of making their nests by weaving long pieces of grass or palm connected to the tree via a branch mostly, as you can see from the picture above.

Measurements	Length – 14 cm Weight – 17 -29g
Native to	Endemic to Eastern Africa
Habitat	Coastal or beside rivers, palms, scrubland
Diet	Insects & seeds

Golden parakeet or Golden Conure (Scientific name – Guaruba guarouba)

The Golden parakeet is mostly yellow with green to its outer wings. Although called a parakeet they are actually small parrots. In a recent assessment they have been classified as vulnerable on the IUCN red list (IUCN 2018) as these beautiful species of birds face a number of threats such as habitat destruction, due to logging, and hunting for food and the pet trade to name a few. 

Measurements	Length – 34 – 36 cm Weight – 4.9 – 5.25g
Native to	Northern Brazil
Habitat	Amazonian rainforests
Diet	Fruits, berries, nuts, seed, crops

Yellow – Rumped Thornbill (Scientific name – Acanthiza chrysorrhoa)

This little Australian bird has as its name suggests a yellow rump as you can see from both the image above and below. They have a short tail in compassion to their body and have a grey – brown colouring to the top and a white – creamy colouring on their breast and underparts and of course the yellow colouring to the rump. The top of their head has a darker cap and they have a white spots on their face, along with a dark thin bill. When in flight you would see the yellow flash of its rump. 

Measurements	Length – 9.5 – 12cm  Weight – 9g
Native to	Australia
Habitat	Scrubland, forests, savannahs
Diet	Mainly insects, some seeds

Range Map of Yellow – Rumped Thornbill

Northern Flicker (Scientific name – Colaptes Auratus)

This attractive bird is a Northern flicker a species of woodpecker which actually has two types. In the west there are the red shafted flickers and in the east are the yellow shafted flickers. The different colours are associated with colouring on the underside of the wings and the tail. 

As you can see from the image above we have of course have the yellow shafted flicker, as this article contains birds with yellow tail. The above picture is of a female and the picture below is a male. They are very similar however the male has a red moustache as seen below.

Measurements	Length – 30 – 35cm Wingspan – 54cm Weight – 120g
Native to	North America, Central America, Cayman Islands
Habitat	Forests, woodland, groves, parks
Diet	Omnivores, insects, seeds, berries, nuts

Range Map of The Northern Flicker

Yellow – Summer

Green – Year round

Blue – Winter

Yellow-tailed parrot or White bellied parrot (Scientific name – Pionites xanthurus)

This colourful parrot as seen above has some lovely markings. Firstly it has a yellow tail so fits into our article on birds with yellow tails nicely. It also has striking red eyes, an orangey – peach coloured head blending into a yellow lower face, white breast, and lastly green back and wings. Although at least concern on the register of the IUCN Red List for birds, it is recognised that this species has declined, it has not hit the criteria as yet but maybe approaching the vulnerable threshold. (Bird life international, 2023).

Measurements	Length – 23cm Wingspan – 36cm Weight – 165g
Native to	Endemic to Brazil
Habitat	Forests
Diet	Seeds, Fruit, Plant

Range Map of Yellow – Tailed Parrot

Yellow-rumped cacique (Scientific name – Cacicus cela)

The yellow-rumped cacique as seen in the above image is a large slender black bird has a bright yellow base to their tail and bright yellow flashes on their wings or shoulders, the rest of their plumage is black. They have beautiful blue eyes and a pale yellow bill. 

Shown in the image below is how these birds nest. They will share trees with others in a colony and make pendulum shaped nests like other birds in their class. 

Measurements	Length – 23-28 cm Weight – 60g
Native to	Northern South America
Habitat	Forest edges
Diet	Insects, fruit, nectar

Range Map of Yellow-rumped cacique

Yellow tailed black Cockatoo (Scientific name – Zanda Funerea)

An unusual colour for cockatoo, as most are very bright, however with yellow cheeks and yellow under tail against the black can make it being regarded as quite striking. 

The one shown in the image above is a male, they have the pink eye rings whereas the females have a pale grey eye ring and larger yellow cheek patches. 

These birds are one of a number of different black cockatoos. Unfortunately their numbers are in decline due to loss of habitat according to Birdlife Australia. (Birdlife Australia 2023)  

Measurements	Length – 55 – 65 cm Weight – 750 – 900g
Native to	Australia
Habitat	Forests, woodlands
Diet	Mainly seed, some insects

Range Map of Yellow Tailed Black Parrot

https://www.iucnredlist.org/

http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/yellow-tailed-parrot-pionites-xanthurus

https://birdlife.org.au/

In Summary

In this article we have seen 20 different species of birds all with yellow tails, to a greater or lesser degree. We have seen images to aid with identification. Information on where in the world they live and the type of habitat and diets. 

I hope you have found this article interesting, there is a further two article I have written on blacks birds which I am sure you will enjoy. Just follow the links;

https://www.birdfinder.co/black-birds-with-green-heads/

A list of 22 black birds with yellow beaks

We welcome any feedback or comments.