Pink-headed warbler

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Pink-headed warbler

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Parulidae
Genus: Cardellina
Species:
C. versicolor
Binomial name
Cardellina versicolor
Salvin, 1863
Range of pink-headed warbler
Synonyms

Ergaticus versicolor

The pink-headed warbler (Cardellina versicolor) is a small

above sea level
.

Taxonomy

When

conspecific.[3]

A comprehensive 2010 paper by Irby Lovette and colleagues analysing mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of the wood-warblers found that the red and pink-headed warblers were each other's closest relative and that their common ancestor diverged from a lineage that gave rise to the red-faced warbler. The authors recommended moving the red and pink-headed warblers back to the genus Cardellina,[4] which has been adopted by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[5]

"Pink-headed warbler" has been designated the official name by the IOC,[5] and is a reference to its most notable feature. The genus name Cardellina is the diminutive of the Italian cardella, a regional name for the European goldfinch,[6] while its specific name, versicolor, is Latin for 'of changeable or various colors'.[7] The latter is a reference to the warbler's changeable head color, which, depending on the angle of the viewer, looks either frosty pink or a deeper red than the rest of its body.[8] In Spanish, the species is called cabeza plateada or 'silvery head'.[9]

Description

Illustration by Joseph Wolf (1863)

The pink-headed warbler measures 12.5–13.5 cm (4.9–5.3 in) in length,[10][nb 1] and weighs 10 g (0.35 oz). Both sexes have a similar plumage, though females are, on average, slightly duller overall.[3] The adult has dark red upperparts, a silvery-pink chest and pinkish-red underparts. Its head is silvery-pink, with a reddish forehead, dusky lores[10] and dark brown irises.[12] Its bill is blackish, sometimes showing some horn color on the lower mandible, and its legs are flesh-colored.[10]

The juvenile is a rich brown with slightly paler underparts.

unossified skulls distinguish them.[13]

Voice

The pink-headed warbler's call is high, thin, and somewhat metallic, variously transcribed as tsiu, ssing or tseeip.[3][10] It also has a low, weak chip that it uses to stay in contact with its mate.[8] Its song is a series of short trills and chips,[10] described as being "clear and cheery" and reminiscent of the song of the yellow warbler,[8] as well as slower and less varied than that of the red warbler.[3] Only males sing.[8] While its calls are heard year-round, the pink-headed warbler sings mostly between February and May, and is silent during the rainy month of June.[8]

Distribution and habitat

The pink-headed warbler is endemic to the highlands of central and eastern Chiapas in Mexico, and to western Guatemala.[9] It is a fairly common to common resident of humid to semi-humid pine-oak, pine-evergreen and evergreen forest and edge, at altitudes ranging from 1,800–3,500 m (5,900–11,500 ft) above sea level.[10] It prefers forest with dense, undisturbed understory, but is also found in disturbed forest with damaged understory in its strongholds in Guatemala; this is thought to be suboptimal habitat.[3] Though it is among the species expected to occur in El Salvador, it has not yet been reported there.[14]

Behavior

Except when they are feeding fledged young, it is uncommon to find more than two pink-headed warblers together. Mated pairs typically remain together year-round.[8]

Food and feeding

Like other

mixed species flocks that pass through its territory.[3] There is some evidence that volcanic eruptions, which can coat vegetation with thick ash and impact insect populations, cause declines in pink-headed warbler numbers.[10][15]

Breeding

In the spring, the male begins singing on good weather days in early February and continues for the next several months, with song frequency peaking between March and May.

incubates for 16 days,[16] sitting within the domed nest with her tail sticking out of the opening and her head turned so she can see out. She is restless while incubating, regularly changing her position.[8] All told, she spends some 71 percent of her time on the nest during incubation, in stints of 13–35 minutes (average 20.1 minutes) with breaks of 4–13 minutes (average 8.3 minutes).[17] Unlike many ground-nesting species, the pink-headed warbler has no distraction display.[8]

The young pink-headed warbler has a red mouth lining, a feature which has been used by taxonomists working to unravel warbler systematics.

fledging. They begin pair bonding by their first autumn.[8]

Conservation and threats

Across its range, pink-headed warbler numbers are declining, primarily because the cloud forest upon which it depends is becoming increasingly

least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its very large range and relatively slow rate of decline.[1] Mexico's government lists it as endangered in that country.[19] In 1898, it was described as being "common on the highlands of central Chiapas".[20] However, in recent years it has become the least common of all wintering and resident warbler species in the highlands of northern Chiapas, based on point counts there.[21]

Notes

  1. ^ By convention, length is measured from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail on a dead bird (or skin) laid on its back.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c BirdLife International (2020). "Ergaticus versicolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22721891A180376953. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. ISBN 978-1-112-57414-6
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7136-3932-2
    .
  4. PMID 20696258. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  5. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "New World warblers, mitrospingid tanagers". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton Thomas (1915). An Elementary Latin Dictionary. New York: American Book Company. p. 911.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Skutch, Alexander F. (1954). "Life Histories of Central American Birds" (PDF). Pacific Coast Avifauna. 31: 339–345.
  9. ^ a b Miller, Alden H., ed. (20 December 1957). "Distributional Check-List of the Birds of Mexico, part 2". Pacific Coast Avifauna. 33. Cooper Ornithological Society: 276.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-854012-0
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-19-857358-6
    .
  12. ^ Dearborn, Ned (1907). Catalogue of a Collection of Birds from Guatemala. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. p. 131.
  13. JSTOR 1365483
    .
  14. ^ Komar, Oliver (December 1998). "Avian Diversity in El Salvador" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 110 (4): 511–533.
  15. ^ a b c Wilson, Jared; Will, Tom (1997). "The Current Status of the Pink-headed Warbler Ergaticus versicolor in Chiapas, Mexico" (PDF). Cotinga. 9.
  16. ^ Skutch, Alexander F (December 1945). "Studies of Central American Redstarts" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 57 (4): 217–242.
  17. ^ Skutch, Alexander F (June 1962). "The Constancy of Incubation" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 74 (2): 115–152.
  18. ^ Ficken, Millicent S. (March 1965). "Mouth Color of Nestling Passerines and Its Use in Taxonomy" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 77 (1): 71–75.
  19. ISBN 978-0-691-12323-3
    .
  20. JSTOR 4068244
    .
  21. JSTOR 1369471
    .

Further reading

External links

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