Common Yellowthroat

IDENTIFICATION: A bright yellow throat, black face mask bordered with white, and an olive brown back distinguish the male. The female lacks the black mask, but has a thin, white eye ring. Length: 11-13 cm.; weight: 9-10 g.

VOICE: The yellowthroat has a distinctive, hoarse "djip" call note. The song on the breeding grounds is a monotonous "witchity-witchity-witchity." Audio 4 (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Marshes, canal edges, mangrove borders, dry forest, brushy areas, and moist fields with tall grass.

HABITS: Spends much of the winter hidden in dense thickets, but will hop into the open to investigate an intruder. Readily responds to humansÆ squeaking or pishing noises (see appendix). It often cocks its tail as it quickly forages for insects, spiders and some seeds. On the breeding grounds in North America, the female builds a bulky nest, hidden in brush or tall marsh vegetation. She does all the incubating of the 3-5 eggs for about 12 days. Both parents feed the young, which leave the nest 10 days after hatching.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: A common winter resident. It has increased with the abandoning of farms in the breeding range, but is commonly parasitized by cowbirds.

RANGE: Breeds from southern Canada to central Mexico. It winters from the southern USA through Central America and the Greater Antilles. A regular location to find this species is at the Humacao Nature Reserve.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; PARULIDAE


Male - Photo: G. Beaton


Male - Photo: G. Beaton

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bent, A.C. 1953. Life histories of North American wood warblers. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 203. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1963).

Dunn, J. and K. Garrett. 1997. A field guide to warblers of North America. Houghton Mifflin, NY.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Guzy, M. J. and G. Ritchison. 1999. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas). in The birds of North America, No. 448 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Wunderle, J.M., Jr. and R.B. Waide. 1993. Distribution of overwintering nearctic migrants in the Bahamas and Greater Antilles. Condor 95:904-933.

Common Yellowthroat, Spanish text

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