Yellow Warbler

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Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler (aestiva group)

Image:Status iucn3.1 LC.svg
Least Concern

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Parulidae
Genus:	Dendroica
Species:	D. petechia

Binomial name

Dendroica petechia
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Yellow Warbler, Dendroica petechia, is a New World warbler. It is the most widespread Dendroica warbler, breeding in almost the whole of North America and down to northern South America.

1 Systematics and description
2 Ecology
3 Footnotes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Systematics and description

The Yellow Warbler has 35 subspecies, which can be divided into three main groups. Each of these groups is sometimes considered a separate species, or the aestiva group (Yellow Warbler) is considered a species different from D. petechia (Mangrove Warbler):

Image:Yellow Warbler.jpg

aestiva group Yellow Warbler

The Yellow Warbler proper (aestiva group) breeds in the whole of North America as far south as central Mexico in open, often wet, woodland or shrub. It is migratory, wintering in Central and South America. This form is a very rare vagrant to western Europe. It is 11.5 cm long and weighs 9 g. The summer males of this group are greenish above and yellow below, with red breast streaking. The various aestiva group races vary mainly in brightness.
The Mangrove Warbler (erithachorides group) is larger at 12.5 cm and weighs 11 g. It is resident in the mangrove swamps of coastal Central America and northern South America. The summer males differ from aestiva group warblers in that they have rufous hoods. The races in this group vary in the extent and hue of the hood.
The Golden Warbler (petechia group) is resident in the mangrove swamps of the West Indies. The summer males differs from aestiva group warblers in that they have a rufous crown or hood. The races in this group vary in the extent and hue of the head patch.

Other plumages of all races are essentially greenish above and a duller yellow below, although young males soon acquire breast and, where appropriate, head colouration.

The song is a musical sweet sweet sweet, I'm so sweet, although it varies considerably between races. The call is a soft or harder ship.

Yellow Warbler Image:Dendroica-petechia-001.ogg

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[edit] Ecology

Image:Dendroica petechia4.jpg

aestiva group Yellow Warbler nest with small clutch

These birds feed on insects and spiders, but northern races will also take some berries, namely in their winter quarters^[1].

Yellow Warblers nest in trees, building a cup nest. Birds of the aestiva group lay 3–6 eggs, but the two other groups, which breed in mangroves, lay fewer eggs, as would be expected for tropical races.

The Yellow Warbler is a regular host of the Brown-headed Cowbird, a nest parasite, and it has evolved strategies to combat such nest parasitism. Upon discovering a cowbird egg laid in its nest, the warbler will often build a new layer to the nest, covering up the cowbird egg (and its own eggs, if they have been laid). In other circumstances, the bird may desert the nest altogether.

[edit] Footnotes

^ E.g. Trophis racemosa (Moraceae): Foster (2007).

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Dendroica petechia. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Curson, Jon; Quinn, David & Beadle David (1994): New World Warblers. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-3932-6
Foster, Mercedes S. (2007): The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico. Bird Conservation International 17(1): 45-61. doi:10.1017/S0959270906000554 PDF fulltext