A large yellow-and-olive bird with white spectacles. Long classified as a warbler; recently moved to its own family. Famously bizarre song repertoire.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The yellow-breasted chat is a large songbird in the New World blackbirds family Icteridae that is found in North and Central America. It has sometimes been placed in its own family Icteriidae and in the New World warbler family Parulidae.
Source: Wikipedia — Yellow-breasted chat Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Large, heavy-billed, long-tailed songbird with a bright yellow throat and breast, white 'spectacles', olive upperparts, and a white belly.
Similar species. True warblers are much smaller with thin bills; the chat's large size, heavy bill, white spectacles, and skulking thicket habits are distinctive.
Voice. An eccentric, slow series of whistles, harsh chatters, mews, and clucks with long pauses — unlike any warbler.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Insects, spiders, and large quantities of berries and small fruits, especially in late summer.
Behavior. The largest 'wood-warbler' (now placed in its own family), an oddball of dense thickets that sings a bizarre medley of whistles, chuckles, and rattles, sometimes in a fluttering display flight at night.
§ Range
Across most of US in summer
§ Habitat
Dense shrubby thickets, brushy areas
§ Threats
Habitat loss, garden monocultures.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the yellow-breasted chat is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Maintain shrubby thickets. Skip pesticides. Don't over-mow brushy field corners.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Yellow-breasted chat
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Icteria virens
- IUCN Red List — search for Icteria virens
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Icteria virens
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
