Yellow Warbler

Setophaga petechia

Summary 4

The American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia, formerly Dendroica petechia) is a New World warbler species. Sensu lato, they make up the most widespread species in the diverse Setophaga genus, breeding in almost the whole of North America and down to northern South America.

Taxon biology 5

The Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) breeds from the Arctic Circle across most of Canada and south to Mexico, with closely related species occurring along Neotropical coastlines. The winter range extends from the extreme southern United States and the Bahamas south through Middle America and the southern Lesser Antilles and on through South America (mainly east of the Andes) to Peru and Amazonian Brazil. Resident year-round populations are present from southern Florida and the Bahamas south throughout the West Indies to the northern coast of Venezuela and from Mexico south through Middle America to Panama, as well as along the west coast of South America, from northwestern Colombia south to central Peru and the Galapagos Islands and east along the northern coast of Colombia to northwestern Venezuela. Infraspecific groups within this species have been recognized as Yellow Warbler, Golden Warbler, and Mangrove Warbler (the latter resident in mangroves from Mexico south; adult males generally have chestnut heads).

Yellow Warblers breed in a range of habitats in eastern North America, including thickets, swamp edges, streamsides, second growth woods, orchards, and gardens. In the West, they are largely restricted to streamside thickets. On their tropical wintering grounds, Yellow Warblers are found in semi-open country, woodland edges, and towns.

Yellow Warblers feed mainly on insects; up to two thirds of the diet may consist of caterpillars. They forage alone on their wintering grounds and defend a winter feeding territory.

Males defend nesting territories by singing and sometimes perform fluttering flight displays. The male courts the female by actively pursuing her for 1 to 4 days. The nest, which is built largely by the female, is placed in an upright fork of a shrub, small tree, or thicket from 1 to 18 m above the ground. Females may steal nest material from other nests. Females lay 4 to 5 (sometimes 3 or 6) eggs that are greenish white with a variety of specks or spots of brown, olive, and gray. Eggs are incubated by the female for 11 to 12 days. The male feeds the female on the nest. Young are fed by both parents, but especially the female. They leave the nest 9 to 12 days after hatching.

Yellow Warbler nests are often parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds, which lay their eggs in the warbler's nest. In some areas. Yellow Warblers may recognize the problem, build a new floor over the eggs, and lay a new clutch of their own (or, alternatively, simply abandon the nest). In one reported case, cowbirds laid eggs on 5 visits, but the warblers built a new floor after each visit.

Migration is mostly by night. Fall migration begins quite early, with many Yellow Warblers moving south during August.

(Kaufman 1996; AOU 1998; Dunn and Alderfer 2011)

Conservation status 6

Dendroica petechia is common, but due to loss of riparian woodland habitat and extensive paratism by cowbirds there has been a decline in yellow warbler populations. An increase in population occurs in areas where grazing and herbicide are restricted, permitting regrowth of riparian vegetation. One subspecies, the Barbados Yellow Warbler, D. petechia petechia, is on the U.S. endangered species list (Ehrlich et al. 1992; IUCN 2000; CITES 2000; USFW 2001).

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: endangered; no special status

CITES: appendix iii

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Habitat 7

Dendroica petechia prefers moist habitats with high insect abundance. The presence of willows is one common feature of yellow warbler habitat north of Mexico. South of Mexico mangroves are a dominant feature. Habitats include the edges of marshes and swamps, willow-lined streams, and leafy bogs. Dendroica petechia also inhabits dry areas such as thickets, orchards, farmlands, forest edges, and suburban yards and gardens. They seem to prefer areas of scattered trees, dense shrubbery, and any other moist, shady areas (Nuttall and Chamberlin, 1971; USGS, 2000).

Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest

Wetlands: marsh ; swamp

Other Habitat Features: suburban ; agricultural ; riparian

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Kelly Colgan Azar, some rights reserved (CC BY-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/puttefin/6796564072/
  2. (c) *derivative work: Snowmanradio *Yellow_Warbler_(Dendroica_petechia)_-Santa_Cruz_-Puerto_Ayorto.jpg: putneymark, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Yellow_Warbler_%28Dendroica_petechia%29_-Santa_Cruz_-Puerto_Ayorto_c.jpg/460px-Yellow_Warbler_%28Dendroica_petechia%29_-Santa_Cruz_-Puerto_Ayorto_c.jpg
  3. Regents of the University of Michigan, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://animaldiversity.org/collections/contributors/usfws/maleyellowwarbler/medium.jpg
  4. Adapted by Amanda Carrillo-Perez from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setophaga_petechia
  5. (c) Leo Shapiro, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/18679766
  6. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31390457
  7. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31390447

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