Species: Icteria virens

Yellow-breasted Chat

Species

Birds

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Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Parulidae

Genus

Icteria

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104641

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Buscabreña - paruline polyglotte

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Parulidae - Icteria - .

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A 19-cm bird (warbler).

Migration

false - false - true - Arrives in southern winter range mid- to late September, departs by late April (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Arrives in northern breeding range mainly in late May or early June (early May in Ontario). Departs many breeding areas mainly in July and August, with significant numbers wandering northward prior to migrating southward to winter range; some linger in the north into late fall or sometimes early winter.

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Summer: eats mostly insects gleaned from foliage and, in late summer, also eats small fruits. Winter: gleans foliage for insects and spiders, notably fond of fruit (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Reproduction Comments

In southern British Columbia, most clutches are initiated from mid-May to late June (mainly early to mid-June) (Cannings et al. 1987). Nests with eggs occur primarily in June in Ontario, late May to mid-July in New York (Bull 1974). Some clutches are produced before May 15 in Ohio (Peterjohn and Rice 1991). Clutch size is usually 3-5. Incubation, by the female, lasts 11-15 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest at 8-11 days (generally by mid-July in southern British Columbia and Alberta, as early as late June in Ontario and New York, as early as early June in Ohio). Sexually mature in one year. In southern Indiana, nests begun in late June and July were more successful than were nests begun earlier; nearly all nest failures were attributed to predators (Thompson and Nolan 1973).

Ecology Comments

In southern Indiana, density was 5-8 breeding males per 18 ha of upland deciduous scrub, plus 2-5 territorial nonbreeding males; territory size averaged 1.24 ha (about 3 acres); very few returned to study area in years following first capture; study area was regarded as unfavorable for chats (Thompson and Nolan 1973). Based on other warblers, annual mortality rate probably is 30-60% in adults, 60-90% in post-fledging young (Thompson and Nolan 1973). NON-BREEDING: Sedentary, solitary during winter (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-12-03

Global Status Last Changed

1996-12-03

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: southern British Columbia across southern Canada and the northern U.S. to southern Ontario and central New York, south to southern Baja California, to Sinaloa on Pacific slope, to Zacatecas in interior over plateau, to southern Tamaulipas on Atlantic slope, and to Gulf Coast and northern Florida (AOU 1998). See Cadman and Page (1994) for further details on distribution on Canada. NON-BREEDING: southern Baja California, southern Sinaloa, southern Texas, southern Louisiana, and southern Florida south (rarely north to Oregon, Great Lakes, New York, and New England) to western Panama (AOU 1998).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104641