- Setophaga petechia
Includes: Mangrove Warbler, Golden Warbler
Identification
12·5 cm (5 in); A widespread New World warbler, with great geographical variation.
- Length 12.5-13 cm, weight 7.4-16 g
- Thin, pointed bill
- Mostly yellow plumage
- Upperparts greenish-yellow
- Yellowish legs
- Plain yellow face with yellow eye ring
Male
- Golden yellow
- Rusty streaks on breast and flanks
- In the tropical parts of its breeding range this bird (especially the male) may have a chestnut head or crown patch.
Female
- Plain yellow
- Streaks on breast absent or barely present
- Notice yellow tail spots on undertail (white in most species where present)
Some have pale gray wash to plumage (southwestern US)
Distribution
Breeds within North America from Alaska east across Canada to Newfoundland and south to southern California, northern Oklahoma, and northern Georgia; local in southern Florida; these subspecies which belong to the S. p. aestiva group of subspecies which winters in tropics. Additionally found in a number of largely non-migratory subspecies in the Caribbean (the S. p. petechia = "golden warbler" group), and in Mexico, Central America and northern South America (the S. p. erithachorides = "mangrove warbler" group). In total, there are thirty-four subspecies. The three groups mentioned have previously been considered separate species but are now considered one wide-ranging species.
Accidental (S. [p.] aestiva) to Greenland (2 records), Iceland (1 record), and Great Britain (3 records).
Taxonomy
Now often split in two species, American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva) and Mangrove Warbler (Setophaga petechia)2.
Formerly placed in the genus Dendroica.
Subspecies
Consists of as many as 34 subspecies1:
- American Yellow Warbler Setophaga aestiva — breeds North America; strongly migratory, wintering interior northern South America
- S. p. rubiginosa - South Alaska to western British Columbia; winters to southern Baja and Panama
- S. p. amnicola - Alaska, Canada and Newfoundland; winters to northern South America
- S. p. aestiva - Soouth-central Canada and central US; winters to South America
- S. p. morcomi - South East British Columbia, western US and northern Baja; winters to northern South America
- S. p. sonorana - South West US to north-western Mexico; winters to western Panama, Colombia and Ecuador
- S. p. dugesi - Central plateau of Mexico
- Mangrove Warbler Setophaga petechia — breeds Central America, Caribbean, northern South America; non-migratory
- S. p. oraria - Mangroves of eastern Mexico (southern Tamaulipas to western Tabasco)
- S. p. bryanti - Mangroves of Yucatán Peninsula to Belize and Costa Rica
- S. p. erithachorides - Atlantic coast of Panama and Caribbean coast of northern Colombia
- S. p. chrysendeta - North East Colombia (Guajira Peninsula) and north-western Venezuela (Zulia)
- S. p. paraguanae - North West Venezuela (Paraguaná Peninsula of Falcón)
- S. p. cienagae - North Venezuela (coastal Carabobo and Aragua) and offshore islands
- S. p. castaneiceps - Mangroves of coastal southern Baja California (south of latitude 27°N)
- S. p. rhizophorae - Mangroves of north-western Mexico (Sonora to Nayarit); winters to Oaxaca
- S. p. xanthotera - Pacific coast of western Guatemala to Costa Rica
- S. p. aequatorialis - Pearl Islands and adjacent mainland Panama
- S. p. peruviana - Extreme south-western Colombia (Nariño) to western Ecuador and northern Peru (Lima)
- S. p. aureola - Cocos Islands (off Costa Rica) and Galapagos Islands
- S. p. rufivertex - Cozumel Island (off Quintana Roo)
- S. p. armouri - Isla Providéncia (western Caribbean Sea)
- S. p. flavida - Isla San Andrés (westerb Caribbean Sea)
- S. p. eoa - Jamaica and Cayman Islands
- S. p. gundlachi - Lower Florida Keys, Cuba, Isle of Pines and Bahamas
- S. p. albicollis - Hispaniola, Gonâve and adjacent islands
- S. p. cruciana - Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
- S. p. bartholemica - Montserrat and northern Lesser Antilles
- S. p. melanoptera - Guadeloupe, Dominica and central Lesser Antilles
- S. p. ruficapilla - Martinique (Lesser Antilles)
- S. p. babad - St. Lucia (Lesser Antilles)
- S. p. petechia - Barbados (Lesser Antilles)
- S. p. alsiosa - Grenadines (Lesser Antilles)
- S. p. rufopileata - Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, and adjacent islands
- S. p. obscura - Islas Los Roques (off northern Venezuela)
- S. p. aurifrons - Coastal north-central Venezuela, Islas La Tortuga, Tortuguillas and Piritu
Habitat
In the US, inhabits moist thickets, especially along streams and in swampy areas, gardens, overgrown pastures, and woodland edges, it is more limited to riparian habitat in the west than the east.
The Mangrove Warbler is sometimes further subdivided into Mangrove Warbler (S. p. erithachorides group) mainly in mangroves, and Golden Warbler (S. p. petechia group), which exhibits geographical variation in its habitat choice, ranging from mangroves to coastal scrub to highland moist forest depending on the island.
Behaviour
Breeding
4 or 5 pale blue eggs, thickly spotted with brown, in a well-made cup of bark, plant fibers, and down, placed in an upright fork in a small sapling.
The main species to be paratisized by cowbirds (Brown-headed Cowbird in temperate North America and Shiny Cowbird in tropical areas). If the female finds an alien egg in the nest she will cover it and lay another clutch.
Vocalisation
Song: Cheery, melodic sweet-sweet-sweet, sweeter-than-sweet; there is some geographical variation
Call: A sharp chip
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Dunn, J., & Garrett, K. (1997). A Field Guide to Warblers of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395783214
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Yellow Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow_Warbler
External Links