Yellow-breasted Chat - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Vogelman
High Island, Texas, USA

Icteria virens

Identification

19cm
Olive upperparts, white belly, yellow throat and breast, long tail, thick heavy bill, large white eye-ring, and dark legs.

Distribution

Breeds in USA, western half of southern Canada and northern Mexico. Recent results suggest that at least part of the US population after having bred in early parts of summer migrates to north-western Mexico where a second round of breeding takes place before the birds go on the final migration to their winter home.

In winter found in Mexico (mostly southern half) though Central America to Panama.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Subspecies virens; Eastern
Photo by bobsofpa
Sam Nail Ranch, Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, April 2010

Two subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• I. v. virens: Eastern

• North-central and eastern US to Florida; winters to Panama

• I. v. auricollis: Western

• Southern British Columbia to Baja and northern Mexico; winters to Guatemala

Habitat

Photo © by lori in ca
Malibu Creek, California

Dense brush and hedgerows.

Behaviour

Breeding

The cup-shaped nest is hidden in thick shrubs.

Diet

The diet consists mostly of insects with fruit and berries added, particularly during the autumn months.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Paper describing migration to second breeding area
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2015)
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Yellow-breasted Chat. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Yellow-breasted_Chat

External Links

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