- Geothlypis poliocephala
Identification
13.5cm-14.5cm, sexes similar
Gray head with black lores and white eye-crescents (faint in eastern Mexico and east/south of there). Bright yellow underparts, olive back and wings. Pinkish, broad bill with blackish culmen, black eye, pink legs.
Similar Species
The gray-crowned has a morph typical of the other Yellowthroats, but without the black face band of the Common Yellowthroat, and with a stouter and deeper bill than the Black-polled Yellowthroat
Distribution
In Mexico along both coasts from a latitude south of the tip of Baja California including all of the Yucatan penisula with an isolated patch in the vicinity of Guadalajara. The coastal ranges, separate in the north, coalesce at the isthmus of Mexico in southern Oaxaca. Distribution continues throughout southern Central America to western Panama.
Taxonomy
Sometimes placed in genus Chamaethlypis[1]
Subspecies
Six subspecies are recognized[2]:
- G. p. poliocephala:
- Pacific slope of north-western Mexico (northern Sinaloa to extreme western Oaxaca)
- G. p. ralphi:
- Extreme southern Texas to north-eastern Mexico (Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí)
- G. p. palpebralis:
- Caribbean slope of southern Mexico (Veracruz) to Belize and Costa Rica
- G. p. caninucha:
- Southern Mexico (Oaxaca) to western Guatemala, El Salvador and south-eastern Honduras
- G. p. icterotis'':
- Pacific slope of western Nicaragua and western Costa Rica
- G. p. ridgwayi:
- South-western Costa Rica (Térraba Valley) to westerb Panama (Chiriquí)
Habitat
Fields and pastures, scrub and brush, including rather dry areas. Not found in marshes, in contrast to the Common Yellowthroat.
Behaviour
A very active little bird typical of wood-warblers, constantly in movement.
Diet
Gleans insects from the leaves and twigs of dense bushes.
Vocalisation
May sing from an open perch.
References
- Howell & Webb, "A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and northern Central America" Oxford University Press, 1999.
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BF member personal observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Gray-crowned Yellowthroat. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Gray-crowned_Yellowthroat
