As a boy in a very small country school with twelve grades in the same building; to be called "a yellow-bellied coward" was fightin' words, (or perhaps running, if that was an option). You knew when you heard THAT, it meant big trouble. One had to defend his perceived yellowness....or prove it forever to a circle of guys waiting to see the action.
In the avian word it is a designation proudly flaunted by numerous birds. The yellow warbler, who is easily and wrongly called a wild canary. Common Yellowthroat, who looks to me like a tiny masked bandit or "lone ranger". Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, who carries red , white, and black, as well. Yellow-rumped Warbler, who spends the winter here in Rockport. When you see it you know why the name. Some have crude nicknames for this active little guy.
There are many more of our birds bearing "yellow" in their names or plumage. My favorite is one not often seen down here. They only pass through. It is the Yellow-headed Blackbird. It is black, yellow, and has a touch of white on the wings. There is something special about seeing this large blackbird with the bright yellow head. I saw it one spring while birding a street on North Padre Island. I was SO excited! A man drove slowly by in his car with his binoculars on the ready. I said, "I just saw a yellow-headed blackbird!!!!". I waited for him to say, "Where?",so I could point at the tree where it had been. He calmly answered with something like this. "I really do like the bird. It is one of my favorites. In fact I chose it to be on the cover of my book about Yellowstone." Suddenly I felt the blacktop opening up and swallowing me. The humble pie I ate had no ice cream on top! Later in that same summer we were in Yellowstone. I had thought about the comment a hundred times. Maybe he was just pulling my leg. I will see. I found a collection of books for sale in one of the fine stores there. I saw it immediately, this really big, slick volume. On the cover in brightest colors was.... Yellow-headed Blackbird!
