- 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 43 subspecies1:
- American Yellow Warbler Setophaga aestiva — breeds North America; strongly migratory, wintering interior northern South America
- S. p. rubiginosa - breeds along pacific coastal Canada and southern coastal Alaska west to along the Aleutians
- S. p. banksi - breeds in Alaska (absent from southern coastal region) and west Northwest Territories
- S. p. parkesi - breeds in far northern Canada from northern Northwest Territories to north-western Ontario
- S. p. amnicola - breeds in boreal Canada from eastern Yukon Territory east to Newfoundland
- S. p. aestiva - breeds across eastern United States west to Montana, Wyoming and eastern Colorado
- S. p. morcomi - breeds in the Rocky Mountain region in Canada and the United States
- S. p. brewsteri - breeds along coastal Pacific United States
- S. p. sonorana - breeds in southern Arizona and New Mexico
- S. p. dugesi - breeds central Mexico
- Mangrove Warbler Setophaga petechia — breeds Central America, Caribbean, northern South America; non-migratory
- S. p. oraria - breeds along the Mexican Gulf Coast
- S. p. bryanti - breeds from the Yucatán Peninsula south to Belize and Costa Rica
- S. p. erithachorides - breeds coastal Atlantic Panama and northern coastal Colombia
- S. p. chrysendeta - breeds in northeast Colombia (Guajira Peninsula) and northwest Venezuela (Zulia)
- S. p. paraguanae - breeds in northwest Venezuela (Paraguaná Peninsula of Falcón)
- S. p. cienagae - breeds in northern Venezuela (coastal Carabobo and Aragua) and offshore islands
- S. p. castaneiceps - breeds southern half of Baja California
- S. p. rhizophorae - breeds northwestern Mexico mainland coast
- S. p. phillipsi - breeds from southern Mexico to Honduras
- S. p. xanthotera - breeds along the pacific coast of Guatemala south to Costa Rica
- S. p. aithocorys - breeds along the pacific coast of Panama from Chiriquí to Coclé
- S. p. iguanae - breeds on Isla Iguana
- S. p. aequatorialis - breeds in the Pearl Islands and adjacent Panama
- S. p. jubaris - breeds in coastal Panama
- S. p. peruviana - breeds in extreme southwest Colombia (Nariño) to western Ecuador and northern Peru (Lima)
- S. p. aureola - breeds on Cocos Island and Galapagos Islands
- S. p. ruficapilla - breeds in Martinique
- S. p. rufivertex - breeds on Cozumel Island
- S. p. armouri - breeds on Isla Providéncia
- S. p. flavida - breeds on San Andres Islands
- S. p. eoa - breeds on Jamaica and Cayman Islands
- S. p. gundlachi - breeds at southern tip of Florida and the Keys; also Cuba and the Isle of Pines
- S. p. flaviceps - breeds in the Bahamas
- S. p. albicollis - breeds in Hispaniola, Gonâve and adjacent islands
- S. p. chlora - breeds in the Dominican Republic on some small offshore islands
- S. p. solaris - breeds on Gonave and Petit Gonave in Haiti
- S. p. bartholemica - breeds on Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and in the northern Lesser Antilles
- S. p. melanoptera - breeds in Guadeloupe, Dominica and central Lesser Antilles
- S. p. babad - breeds on Saint Lucia
- S. p. petechia - breeds on Barbados
- S. p. alsiosa - breeds in the Grenadines
- S. p. rufopileata - breeds in the Netherlands Antilles
- S. p. obscura - breeds on Islas Los Roques
- S. p. aurifrons - breeds coastal Venezuela, Tortuga Islands, 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
- 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/.
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- eNature
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Yellow Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow_Warbler
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