Yellow-throated warbler

The yellow-throated warbler (Setophaga dominica) is a small migratory songbird species in the New World warbler family (Parulidae) found in temperate North America.

Description
In summer, male yellow-throated warblers display grey upperparts and wings, with double white wing bars. Their throats are yellow, and the remainder of their underparts are white, and are streaked with black on the flanks. Their heads are strongly patterned in black and white, with a long supercilium; the different subspecies may display yellow and white superciliums. Remiges and rectrices are black. They measure 14 cm long.

Other plumages of these birds – females immatures and non-breeding males – resemble washed-out versions of the summer males; in particular they have a less crisply defined strong head pattern. They also have less bright yellows, and dark grey feathers instead of black ones in the body plumage. Compared to many other New World warblers, sexual dimorphism is slight.

The males' songs are clear, descending whistles. The calls are high sees or sharp chips.

Measurements:


 * Length: 5.1 - 5.5 in
 * Weight: 0.3 - 0.4 oz
 * Wingspan: 8.3 in

Taxonomy
Yellow-throated warblers will occasionally hybridize with northern parulas (Setophaga americana), resulting in a hybrid species known as Sutton's warblers. Sutton's warblers lack the black streaks bordering the breast indicative of yellow-throated warblers, and have a suffused greenish-yellow wash on their back, which is also not indicative of yellow-throated warblers. The Sutton's warbler was first discovered in 1940 in West Virginia.

Distribution and habitat
These birds breed in southeastern North America, and their breeding ranges extend from southern Pennsylvania and northern Missouri, to the Gulf of Mexico. One subspecies, from northwest Florida, is resident all year round. The other populations of this species are migratory, wintering at the Gulf Coast, eastern Central America, and the Caribbean. Vagrant wintering birds are sometimes seen in northernmost South America.

In the United States, the yellow-throated warbler's range differs from typical Setophaga warblers because they have a more expansive resident population in the South than other Setophaga warblers. Moreover, their breeding range is more southerly, and their wintering range more is northerly, than the other warblers in the genus. According to McKay et al., "[t]he near absence of the species from the lower Piedmont of the Carolinas and Georgia ... presents a puzzle."

The yellow-throated warbler is a woodland species with a preference for coniferous or swamp tree species, in which it preferably nests.

Diet
They are insectivorous, but will include a considerable amount of berries and nectar in their diet outside the breeding season. Food is typically picked off tree branches directly, but flying insects may be caught in a brief hover.

Breeding
These birds build cup-shaped nests which are built in trees, and are concealed amongst conifer needles or Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides). Their clutches consist of 3–5 (usually 4) eggs.

Books

 * Hall, G. A. 1996. Yellow-throated Warbler (Dendroica dominica). In The Birds of North America, No. 223 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.

Thesis

 * Barrow WC Jr. Ph.D. (1990). Ecology of small insectivorous birds in a bottomland hardwood forest. Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, United States, Louisiana.

Articles
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 * Banks RC & Browning MR. (1980). Correct Citations for Some North American Bird Taxa. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. vol 92, no 1. p. 195-203.
 * Brooke M. (1969). Yellow-Throated Warbler in Ledges State Park. Iowa Bird Life. vol 39, no 3.
 * Craig JT. (1972). 2 Fall Yellow-Throated Warblers in California. California Birds. vol 3, no 1. p. 17-18.
 * Easterla DA & George W. (1970). Marbled Godwit and Yellow-Throated Warbler in Colombia South America. Condor. vol 72, no 4.
 * Emlen JT. (1973). Territorial Aggression in Wintering Warblers at Bahama Agave Blossoms. Wilson Bulletin. vol 85, no 1. p. 71-74.
 * Gabbe AP, Robinson SK & Brawn JD. (2002). Tree-species preferences of foraging insectivorous birds: Implications for floodplain forest restoration. Conservation Biology. vol 16, no 2. p. 462-470.
 * Gaddis P. (1980). Mixed Flocks Accipiters and Anti Predator Behavior. Condor. vol 82, no 3. p. 348-349.
 * Haney JC & Lydic J. (1999). Avifauna and vegetation structure in an old-growth oak-pine forest on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee (USA). Natural Areas Journal. vol 19, no 3. p. 199-210.
 * Klaus NA, Buehler DA & Saxton AM. (2005). Forest management alternatives and songbird breeding habitat on the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee. Journal of Wildlife Management. vol 69, no 1. p. 222-234.
 * Koes RF. (1991). Additions to the Manitoba Bird List 1985-1990. Blue Jay. vol 49, no 4. p. 202-207.
 * Larson B. (1996). The yellow-throated warbler: Soon to breed in Ontario?. Ontario Birds. vol 14, no 1. p. 3-9.
 * Latta SC, Parkes KC & Wunderle JM Jr. (1998). A new intrageneric Dendroica hybrid from Hispaniola. Auk. vol 115, no 2. p. 533-537.
 * McNair DB. (1986). Past Breeding Distribution of Eleven Species in Georgia USA Based on Nest Records from Egg Data Slips. Oriole. vol 51, no 2-3. p. 28-31.
 * Mery SC. (1976). Oklahoma Fall Records for the Yellow-Throated Warbler. Bulletin of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society. vol 9, no 4.
 * Morse DH. (1974 ). Foraging of Pine Warblers Allopatric and Sympatric to Yellow-Throated Warblers. Wilson Bulletin. vol 86, p. 4.
 * Norton RL. (1979). New Records of Birds for the Virgin Islands. American Birds. vol 33, no 2. p. 145-146.
 * Patten MA & Marantz CA. (1996). Implications of vagrant southeastern vireos and warblers in California. Auk. vol 113, no 4. p. 911-923.
 * Paxton RO, Buckley PA & Cutler DA. (1976). Hudson Delaware Region. American Birds. vol 30, no 4. p. 817-823.
 * Stevenson HM. (1977). A Comparison of the Apalachicola River Avi Fauna above and Below Jim Woodruff Dam. Florida Marine Research Publications. vol 26, p. 34-36.
 * Strauch JGJ. (1974). 1st Ontario Specimen of the Yellow-Throated Warbler. Canadian Field Naturalist. vol 88, no 3.
 * Tomlinson DW. (2004). Wintering warblers in Cuba. Ontario Birds. vol 22, no 1. p. 15-19.