Black-throated gray warbler
Black-throated gray warbler | |
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Male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Parulidae |
Genus: | Setophaga |
Species: | S. nigrescens
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Binomial name | |
Setophaga nigrescens (Townsend, 1837)
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Breeding range Winter range
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Synonyms[2] | |
Sylvia nigrescens Townsend, 1837 |
The black-throated gray warbler or black-throated grey warbler (Setophaga nigrescens) is a
. 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.Taxonomy
The black-throated gray warbler was first described by
Of these relatives, the range of the black-throated gray warbler overlaps with those of Townsend's warbler and the hermit warbler, but they occur in different habitats. While Townsend's and hermit warblers commonly hybridize with each other, records of either species hybridizing with the black-throated gray warbler are uncommon.[10][11]
There are two
Description
The black-throated gray warbler has mostly black, gray, and white plumage,[8] which is soft, lacking gloss.[4] With its striping and the small yellow spot between its eye and bill, it is a distinctive bird. The sexes differ slightly, both having gray upperparts with black streaks, and white underparts with black streaks on the flanks.[8] The adult male is striped with black on the crown, throat, and below the eye, and has white around its chin and above its eye. The adult female has more dingy plumage on its head, with a white throat and dark gray cheeks.[8] The most similar birds to the black-throated gray warbler are the black-and-white and blackpoll warblers, which although marked in black have entirely different plumage patterns.[8]
It is typically 13 cm (5.1 in) long, weighing 8.4 g (0.30 oz). Wing lengths are 5.6–6.9 cm (2.2–2.7 in), tail lengths 4.7–5.5 cm (1.9–2.2 in), bill lengths 8.4–9.6 mm (0.33–0.38 in), and tarsus lengths 1.66–1.88 cm (0.65–0.74 in), with females slightly smaller than males.[8][13] Wingspan ranges from 7.5-7.8 in (19-19.7 cm).[14]
This bird gives a sharp tup or thick call, like that of Townsend's warbler but flat and unmusical, as well as a high see flight call. The male's song is a series of buzzy notes, with the earlier notes doubled and the next to last note high.[8] This song has three variations, including a quiet "soft song" given by the males while following females gathering material for a nest.[15]
Distribution and habitat
The black-throated gray warbler breeds in western North America, its range extending from southwestern British Columbia along the Pacific coast to northern Baja California, and east to New Mexico and southern Montana. It winters mostly in Mexico, from southern Baja California to Oaxaca state.[8][5][6] It has spread into parts of Wyoming and Montana only recently, as Juniperus osteosperma has expanded its range due to a warming climate.[16] Vagrants have been recorded across eastern North America[13] and in Cuba.[17]
The black-throated gray warbler breeds in open
Behavior
The black-throated gray warbler is usually approachable, and can easily be observed while foraging. Despite this, it is poorly known, especially in its breeding behavior, of which Birds of North America said "almost no information is available".[5] It forages, often in flocks with other species. It feeds on insects gleaned on low branches, especially caterpillars.[20]
The nest is usually placed on a horizontal tree branch or in a shrub, a few metres above the ground. The nest is an open cup constructed of grass stalks and other fibres, and lined with feathers and hair. The female lays three to five pinkish eggs with brown dots from May to July.[8][21][22][23] Incubation and fledging periods are unknown. This species has been recorded giving a distraction display, pretending to be injured to distract predators from its nest.[24] Both parents feed the young, though the female may do so more frequently.[25]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Coues 1878, pp. 263–267
- ^ a b Townsend, John Kirk (1837). "Description of twelve new species of birds, chiefly from the vicinity of the Columbia River". Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 7: 187–192 [191].
- ^ a b c Audubon & Macgillivray 1849, pp. 57–59
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Guzy, Michael J. & Lowther, Peter E. (1997). Poole, A. (ed.). "Black-throated Gray Warbler (Dendroica nigrescens)". The Birds of North America Online. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d American Ornithologists' Union 1983, pp. 539–551
- S2CID 13691956. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Curson, Quinn & Beadle 1994, pp. 126–128
- PMID 18611849.
- JSTOR 4088607.
- S2CID 85838540.
- ^ "Dendroica nigrescens". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ a b c Sibley 2000, p. 437
- ^ "Black-throated Gray Warbler Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- ^ Morrison, Michael L.; Hardy, John William (1983). "Vocalizations of the Black-throated Gray Warbler" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 95 (4): 643–647.
- ^ Hendricks, Paul (2004). "First nesting record of black-throated gray warbler (Dendroica nigrescens) for Montana" (PDF). Western North American Naturalist. 64 (4): 548–550.
- ^ Wallace, G. E.; Wallace, E. A. H.; Froehlich, D. R.; Walker, B.; Kirkconnell, A.; Torres, E. S.; Carlisle, H. A.; Machell, E. (1999). "Hermit Thrush and Black-throated Gray Warbler, new for Cuba, and other significant bird records from Cayo Coco and vicinity, Ciego de Avila Province, Cuba, 1995–1997" (PDF). Florida Field Naturalist. 27 (2): 37–51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
- ISBN 978-1-4000-4386-6.
- ^ Remsen, J. V. Jr.; Cardiff, Stephen (1979). "First records of the race scotti of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow in California" (PDF). Western Birds. 10 (1): 45–46.
- ISBN 978-0-385-12353-2.
- ^ Finley 1908, p. 127
- ^ Wheelock 1912, pp. 401–404
- JSTOR 1360756.
- ^ Grinnell & Storer 1924, pp. 529–531
- ^ Finley, William L. (1923). "Black-throated Gray Warbler". In Pearson, T. Gilbert (ed.). Birds of America. Vol. 3.
Works cited
- American Ornithologists' Union (1983). Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. ISBN 978-1-891276-00-2.
- Audubon, John James; Macgillivray, William (1849). Ornithological biography, or An account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America: accompanied by descriptions of the objects represented in the work entitled The birds of America, and interspersed with delineations of American scenery and manners. Vol. V. Edinburgh: Judah Dobson, A. Black.
- Coues, Eliot (1878). Birds of the Colorado Valley: A Repository of Scientific and Popular Information Concerning North American Ornithology, Part First, Passeres to Laniidae. United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, Miscellaneous Publications—No. 11. Washington: Government Printing Office.
- Curson, Jon; Quinn, David; Beadle, David (1994). Warblers of the Americas: an Identification Guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-70998-6.
- Finley, William Lovell (1908). American Birds, Studied and Photographed from Life. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- Grinnell, Joseph; Storer, Tracy Irwin (1924). Animal life in the Yosemite; an account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada. University of California Press.
- ISBN 978-0-679-45122-8.
- Wheelock, Irene Grosvenor (1912). Birds of California: an Introduction to More Than Three Hundred Common Birds of the State and Adjacent Islands, with a Supplementary List of Rare Migrants, Accidental Visitants, and Hypothetical Subspecies. Chicago: A. Ac. McClure.
External links
- Black-throated Gray Warbler at All About Birds
- Black-throated Grey Warbler at the Internet Bird Collection