Another image from my recently concluded Songbirds of Pelee workshop. As this Prothonotary warbler was foraging on this great perch, a Northern Waterthrush flew over it, and the Prothonotary warbler quickly gave chase. This was a lucky catch for me, as I was reorienting the camera from horizontal to vertical when I noticed it happening :)

Prothonotary Warblers are unique among the warbler family because they breed in nest cavities instead of making nests on tree branches. They choose tree cavities, dug out by woodpeckers or chickadees, that are either standing in water or within 5 m (16 feet) of water.

Prothonotary Warblers get their name from papal clerks, called prothonotaries, who wore yellow robes. However, it is also possible that the name derives from the notaries (known as protonotaires) who played a significant role in the 18th and 19th-century legal system of Louisiana, the state where the bird was first described. One point against that theory is that the notaries did not wear yellow.