Species: Dendroica petechia

Yellow Warbler

Species

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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

See Kaufman (1991, Am. Birds 45:167-170) for detailed information on identification. See Wiedenfeld (1991) for information on geographical variation in male morphology.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Parulidae

Genus

Dendroica

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106383

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Chipe Amarillo - paruline jaune

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Parulidae - Dendroica - Comprises three groups that formerly were regarded as separate species: D. AESTIVA (Yellow Warbler, of Canada and U.S.), D. PETECHIA (Golden Warbler, of southern Florida and West Indies), and D. ERITHACHORIDES (Mangrove Warbler, of both coasts of Middle America and northern South America) (AOU 1983, 1998). Browning (1994) examined geographic variation in plumage color and pattern and recognized 43 subspecies, some of which he described as new. Undoubtedly, some would question whether all of these represent units worthy of taxonomic recognition. Klein and Brown (1994) examined mtDNA variation in populations from North America, Central America, South America, and the West Indies. Only one of 37 identified haplotypes was found in more than one of these regions. The mtDNAs from North American migratory populations clearly were differentiated from those of most tropical sedentary populations. Apparently multiple colonizations of the West Indies archipelago and of individual Caribbean islands have occurred.

Ecology and Life History

See Kaufman (1991, Am. Birds 45:167-170) for detailed information on identification. See Wiedenfeld (1991) for information on geographical variation in male morphology.

Migration

true - true - true - In Costa Rica, abundant fall migrant September-October, with small numbers arriving by mid-August; migrants depart by early to mid-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Migrants are present in South America mainly September-April (Ridgely and Tudor 1989). Nonmigratory populations occur in the West Indies, Middle America, and northern coastal South America.

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Eats insects (especially caterpillars) and spiders. Takes most food items from leaves or bark; sometimes flycatches; occasionally eats small fruits or probes in flowers (Lack 1976).

Reproduction Comments

Nesting occurs mainly in May-June but may continue into July or rarely August. Clutch size is 3-6 in most region (usually 4-5, but mean of 2.5 in southern Florida). Incubation, by the female, lasts 11-12 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest at 9-12 days. Females generally attempt only one brood per year. Yellow warblers are commonly subjected to brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds. Adult warblers often can be seen feeding much larger cowbird fledglings.

Ecology Comments

Breeding territories are as small as 0.16 ha (Harrison 1979). See Weatherhead 1989 for relations among yellow warbler, red-winged blackbird, and brown-headed cowbird in Manitoba (yellow warbler heavily impacted by cowbird parasitism; cowbirds abundant due to success of cowbirds in blackbird nests). Migrants are solitary and territorial in winter (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Greenberg and Salgado Ortiz 1994).

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-12-03

Global Status Last Changed

1996-12-03

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

Breeding range extends from northern Alaska across northern Canada to Labrador, and south to Panama and through the West Indies to the northern coast of South America. Range during the northern winter extends from southern California, southern Arizona, northern Mexico, and southern Florida south to central Peru, northern Bolivia, and Amazonian Brazil. Resident populations exist in the West Indies (Pashley 1988, Pashley 1988, Pashley and Hamilton 1990) and Middle America, along the Gulf-Caribbean coast to Venezuela, and on the Pacific coast of South America south to northwestern Peru.

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106383