Yellow-headed warbler

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Yellow-headed warbler
Yellow-headed Warbler (Teretistris fernandinae) cropped.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Teretistridae
Genus: Teretistris
Species:
T. fernandinae
Binomial name
Teretistris fernandinae
(Lembeye, 1850)
Teretistris fernandinae map.svg
Teretistris fernandinae range

The yellow-headed warbler (Teretistris fernandinae) is one of two species of bird in the Cuban warbler family Teretistridae. It is endemic to western Cuba. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

The yellow-headed warbler shares its family and genus with the Oriente warbler (T. fornsi). They were originally placed in the New World warblers (Parulidae) but phylogenetic studies of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA led to reassessment of several genera and in 2017 the Cuban warblers were moved to their own family. Their closest relatives are the four members of family Spindalidae, the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens), and the New World blackbirds of family Icteridae. [3] [2]

The yellow-headed warbler is monotypic. [2]

Description

The yellow-headed warbler is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs 6 to 18.5 g (0.21 to 0.65 oz). Its entire head is yellow, with an olive tinge on the crown and nape. Its upperparts are gray and its underparts a lighter grayish white. [4]

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-headed warbler is found in far western mainland Cuba, Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Pines), and the nearby Cayo Cantiles. It inhabits all available forest types as long as they have a relatively undisturbed understory, and also scrubby thickets in drier areas. In elevation it ranges from lowlands to high mountains. [4]

Behavior

Movement

The yellow-headed warbler is a year-round resident throughout its range. [4]

Feeding

The yellow-headed warbler forages from the ground to the forest mid-level, gleaning rocks and foliage for insects and other invertebrates. It is also believed to take small lizards. It often forages in flocks. [4]

Breeding

The yellow-headed warbler's breeding season is from March to July, with eggs laid in April and May. It makes a cup nest of grass, rootlets, and other plant fibers and usually places it fairly low in a bush, vine, or sapling. The clutch size is two or three eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known. [4]

Vocalization

The yellow-headed warbler's song is "a series of buzzy grating notes interspersed with sweeter, more musical notes". Its calls include "a rapid, high-pitched, staccato chattering" and "various other buzzy and grating notes". [4]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the yellow-headed warbler as being of Least Concern. It has a small range and its population size is unknown but believed to be stable. No immeditate threats have been identified. [1] It is considered common to very common within its range. [4]

Related Research Articles

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The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds that make up the family Parulidae and are restricted to the New World. They are not closely related to Old World warblers or Australian warblers. Most are arboreal, but some, like the ovenbird and the two waterthrushes, are primarily terrestrial. Most members of this family are insectivores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburnian warbler</span> Species of bird

The Blackburnian warbler is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson's warbler</span> Species of bird

Wilson's warbler is a small New World warbler. It is greenish above and yellow below, with rounded wings and a long, slim tail. The male has a black crown patch; depending on the subspecies, that mark is reduced or absent in the female. It breeds across Canada and south through the western United States, and winters from Mexico south through much of Central America. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerulean warbler</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-breasted chat</span> Species of bird

The yellow-breasted chat is a large songbird found in North America, and is the only member of the family Icteriidae. It was once a member of the New World warbler family, but in 2017, the American Ornithological Society moved it to its own family. Its placement is not definitively resolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-throated gray warbler</span> Species of bird

The black-throated gray warbler or black-throated grey warbler is a passerine bird of the New World warbler family Parulidae. It is 13 cm (5.1 in) long and has gray and white plumage with black markings. The male has the bold black throat of its name, and black stripes on its head, as well as black streaks on its flanks; the female is a paler version of the male, with a white throat and less distinct black markings on the flanks and wings. It breeds in western North America from British Columbia to New Mexico, and winters in Mexico and the southwestern United States. The habitats it prefers are coniferous and mixed forests and scrubland, especially those with pinyon pines, junipers, sagebrush, and oaks. Its nest is an open cup of plant fibers lined with feathers, built a few metres from the ground in the branches of a tree or shrub. Three to five eggs are laid, and young are fed by both parents. Common in its breeding range, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrenthrush</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great lizard cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The great lizard cuckoo is a species of bird in the tribe Phaenicophaeini, subfamily Cuculinae of the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is found in the Bahamas and Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose-breasted chat</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-breasted chat</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green-tailed warbler</span> Species of bird endemic to Hispaniola

The green-tailed warbler, also known as the green-tailed ground-tanager, is a species of bird of the family Phaenicophilidae, the Hispaniolan tanagers. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-crowned tanager</span> Species of bird endemic to Hispaniola

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-crowned tanager</span> Species of bird endemic to Hispaniola

The grey-crowned tanager or grey-crowned palm-tanager is a Near Threatened species of bird in the family Phaenicophilidae, the Hispaniolan tanagers. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hispaniolan spindalis</span> Species of bird endemic to Hispaniola

The Hispaniolan spindalis is one of four species of bird in family Spindalidae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaican spindalis</span> Species of bird

The Jamaican spindalis is one of four species of bird in family Spindalidae. It is endemic to Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban warbler</span> Tiny family of birds found only in Cuba

The Cuban warblers are a genus, Teretistris, and family, Teretistridae, of birds endemic to Cuba and its surrounding cays. Until 2002 they were thought to be New World warblers, but DNA studies have shown that they are not closely related to that family. The family consists of two species, the yellow-headed warbler and the Oriente warbler. Both species are found in forest and scrub, with the yellow-headed warbler ranging in the west of the island and the Oriente warbler in the east. The Cuban warblers are 13 cm (5.1 in) long and have similar yellow and grey plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriente warbler</span> Species of bird

The Oriente warbler is one of two species of bird in the Cuban warbler family Teretistridae. It is endemic to central and eastern Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-winged warbler</span> Species of bird endemic to Hispaniola

The white-winged warbler, also called the white-winged ground-warbler, is a Vulnerable species of bird of the family Phaenicophilidae, the Hispaniolan tanagers. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriental cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The Oriental cuckoo or Horsfields cuckoo is a bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Himalayan cuckoo, with the name 'Oriental cuckoo' used for the combined species. Differences in voice and size suggest that it should be treated as a separate species. The binomial name Cuculus horsfieldi has often been used instead of Cuculus optatus, but is now usually considered to be a junior synonym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western chat-tanager</span> Species of bird endemic to Hispaniola

The western chat-tanager is a Vulnerable species of passerine bird belonging to the family Calyptophilidae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Yellow-headed Warbler Teretistris fernandinae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22721867A94736156. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22721867A94736156.en . Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022). "Caribbean "tanagers", Wrenthrush, Yellow-breasted Chat". IOC World Bird List. v 12.2. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/taxa
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Curson, J. (2020). Yellow-headed Warbler (Teretistris fernandinae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yehwar1.01 retrieved October 11, 2022