- Setophaga dominica
Dendroica dominica
Identification
5" (13 cm). Grey, unstreaked upperparts, bright yellow throat, white belly, black-and-white facial pattern, heavy black streaks on sides. Sexes alike.
Distribution
Breeds from Illinois, Ohio, and New Jersey south to Missouri, Texas, Gulf Coast, and northern Florida. Occasionally it may stray, and even breed, as far north of its usual range as New York and southern New England. Winters from Gulf Coast states southward.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies are recognized1.
- S. d. albilora - breeds se. Iowa south to e. Texas e. to Pennsylvania, western Carolinas, and northwestern Alabama
- S. d. dominica - breeds along the Atlantic coastal plain from s. New Jersey south to cen. Florida w. to Alabama
- S. d. stoddardi - breeds along coastal Florida panhandle and adjacent Alabama
The subspecies albilora and stoddardi are sometimes seen as synonymous with dominica.
Bahama Warbler was formerly included in this species.
Formerly placed in genus Dendroica.
Habitat
Forests of pine, cypress, sycamore, and oak, in both swampy places and dry uplands. This attractive warbler is usually found in live oaks draped with Spanish moss or in longleaf pines.
Behaviour
It often creeps over the branches of the trunk like a Black-and-white Warbler.
Breeding: 4 purple-spotted greenish eggs in a nest of grass and bark strips lined with hair and feathers, often set in clumps of Spanish moss or among pine needles.
Voice: The form breeding in the USA uses a series of clear ringing notes descending in pitch and increasing in speed, rising abruptly at the end, teeew-teeew-teeew-teeew-tew-tew-twi. The Bahama form sings an ascending series of notes.
References
- Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
- BirdForum thread discussing the proposal to see flavescens as a full species
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Yellow-throated Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow-throated_Warbler