The black-throated gray warbler or black-throated grey warbler (Setophaga nigrescens) is a passerine bird of the New World warbler family Parulidae. It is 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.

Taxonomy

The black-throated gray warbler was first described by John Kirk Townsend in 1837 from a specimen collected near today's Portland, Oregon. It was known to the Chinook inhabitants of the northwest coast, who called it Ah Kah a qual. Townsend described the species as Sylvia nigrescens, placing it with the other New World warblers and the unrelated Old World warblers in the genus Sylvia. It is now placed in the genus Setophaga along with about thirty other species, after having been classified in Dendroica for some time. Within its genus, it is part of a group with black throats and yellow face markings that includes the hermit warbler and Townsend's warbler.

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.

There are two subspecies, which are highly similar and of dubious validity. The nominate subspecies S. n. nigrescens occurs on the Pacific coastal region from British Columbia to northern California, while S. n. halseii, described by Giraud in 1841, occupies the inland parts of its range. S. n. halseii birds are slightly larger and more gray in their upperparts.

Description

thumb|left|upright|An illustration of a male

The black-throated gray warbler has mostly black, gray, and white plumage,

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.

Distribution and habitat

thumb|left|Second-year female

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. Vagrants have been recorded across eastern North America and in Cuba.

The black-throated gray warbler breeds in open coniferous and mixed forest with a brushy understory, in dry open oak forests, and in chaparral and other scrubland. It is a fairly common bird, Because it is common and not in rapid decline, it is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

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. 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. Both parents feed the young, though the female may do so more frequently.

References

Works cited

  • Black-throated Gray Warbler at All About Birds
  • Black-throated Grey Warbler at the Internet Bird Collection