Part 79

Yellow-throated warblers are gentle and friendly, but are not really socially inclined, either toward other members of their own kind or toward other species. * * * In the trees, their movements are quick, nervous and active, and they are very neat and trim in appearance for they spend much time in preening * * * As usual with warblers, these little birds are skillful insect catchers, and eat house flies, mosquitoes, ants, crickets, beetles and many other varieties of the smaller insects. Once I saw one on an artificial feeding station eating bread crumbs.

These warblers seem even fonder of bathing than most other warblers. They go regularly and often to their baths, and after bathing they spend several minutes carefully preening their feathers.

Voice.--The song of the yellow-throated warbler is one of its distinctive characteristics. Completely unlike the thready, insect-like notes of many of its family, it is difficult to describe verbally, and interpretations of it must necessarily vary according to impressions made on human ears. That it is loud, with a definitely ringing character, is agreed upon by all, and in this respect resembles the beautiful song of the prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) another dweller of the cypress lagoons.

R. T. Peterson (1939) says that the song is "slightly suggestive" of those of the indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) and the Louisiana water-thrush (Seiurus motacilla), although I had not noticed this resemblance, and describes the notes as "starting with several clear, slurred notes and dropping slightly down the scale." This is true; the preliminary or "clear" notes vary in number from five to eight, and are run together at the end. F. M. Weston (MS.) says that there are "several distinct repetitions of a single note, ending weakly in an anticlimax trill," also a satisfactory description. Rendered into words (always inaccurate and often misleading) it has been written as ching-ching-ching-chicker-churwee. F. M. Chapman (1907) remarks that he was familiar with the song for some years before being impressed with its resemblance to that of S. motacilla, and follows with the statement that it is not so much the form of the notes themselves "as their wild, ringing, carrying quality which recalls the song of the water-thrush," in which quality a resemblance is readily understandable, and further says that the song has been compared to that of the indigo bunting "not without reason." Howell (1932) simply characterizes it as "loud and attractive," and also compares it with that of the indigo bunting and the water-thrush.

Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) writes: "The song is bright, musical and lively, beginning with high-pitched two-note phrases, sounding something like cheeka-cheeka-cincha-cincha, and then dropping down in pitch in a series of rapid notes. It is fairly loud, with a clear ringing quality." This is much the best description I have seen of this highly individual song.

This warbler is an indefatigable songster. From early March through May (about Charleston) it sings almost incessantly, practically from dawn to dusk. Often only seconds intervene between the renditions. As June approaches, the frequency of its singing drops sharply, and by the middle of that month only a very occasional song is heard.

Enemies.--The yellow-throated warbler is open to the various dangers which beset any of the smaller passerine species, but I know of no single enemy that operates against it particularly. However, it occasionally falls into a somewhat novel trap, becoming entangled in tough spider-webs. In much of the cypress country of the southeast the large Carolina silk spider makes its home and spins a magnificent golden web high up amid the straight-trunked columns of the trees. Some of these webs may stretch for many yards and on two occasions I have seen this warbler caught therein. In one instance it was the convulsive fluttering of the bird, apparently stationary in midair, which attracted attention and after some moments of violent activity, it succeeded in breaking the strands which held it. In the other, a dead specimen was found inextricably entangled. Although two experiences such as this are by no means conclusive of any marked mortality, it at least indicates that this may occur more often than one would realize.

Field marks.--The brilliant yellow throat is always diagnostic and is usually readily seen because of the bird's tameness and deliberate actions. The grayness of the plumage is also apparent. A brief glimpse is enough to establish its identity, even if the characteristic song is unfamiliar.

Fall.--The yellow-throated warbler leaves the northern portions of its range rather early. A very late specimen in the northern perimeter of the range was found dead by J. K. Potter (MS.) at Collingswood, N.J., on November 2, 1943. According to H. H. Bailey (1913) departure dates for southeastern Virginia are in the "latter part of July." May T. Cooke (1929) gives the latest occurrence about Washington as September 11, 1927. Near Lynchburg, R. H. Freer (MS.) has seen it once on September 30. These are all considerably later than Bailey's late July, and though very late, dates indicate that the species may remain in Viriginia well into August. C. W. Richmond and J. D. Figgins secured specimens on July 28, 1889, at Four Mile Run (near Washington), these being noted by William Rives (1890) in his catalog of Virginia birds.

Late September sees the last migrants leaving central and western North Carolina; the twenty-fifth of that month in the Raleigh area and the twenty-eighth in the Asheville region (Pearson and the Brimleys, 1942). In the coastal area the average is probably a little later.

From South Carolina southward, as already noted, the species is a permanent resident though the scattered wintering individuals are quite probably birds that nested in the northern portion of the range. About Charleston birds can be seen through July and August, but being quiet are not nearly so noticeable, and their numbers fall off in September and October. The young appear to leave much earlier, indeed, shortly after the cessation of the song period in mid-June, though doubtless early July sees some of them still here.

In Florida I have not seen this warbler south of the Lake Okeechobee-Kissimmee Prairie region in winter but occasional individuals are seen there throughout January and February in the "hammocks" and they begin to sing in early March. In the western part of the state F. M. Weston writes from Pensacola that the "fall migration is hardly noticeable in this region, for the birds have been silent and inconspicuous since June, and the migratory movement consists merely of a quiet withdrawal from the area." Of its winter status in that area he follows with the statement that the "yellow-throated warbler winters regularly in small numbers, at which season it is confined to the live oak groves. In order to find it, an observer must scan carefully every chickadee-titmouse group found in suitable situations. The composition of such a group would be half-a-dozen each of the tufted titmouse, Florida chickadee, myrtle warbler and ruby-crowned kinglet, a blue-gray gnatcatcher, a blue-headed vireo, an orange-crowned warbler and one or two yellow-throated warblers."

Alexander Wilson (1832) in speaking of the first specimen of this warbler he ever saw (in Georgia) stated that it was late in February and was the first spring appearance of the species in that area, following this at once with the explanation that "they leave the U. S. about three months during winter and, consequently, go to no great distance." He was in one of his few errors here for the warbler is, as we have abundantly seen, present in southeastern United States through the whole of the winter.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.--Southeastern United States to Panamá and the West Indies.

Breeding range.--The yellow-throated warbler breeds =north= to northern Illinois (Knoxville, Hennepin, Saint Charles, and possibly Waukegan); northern Indiana (Elkhart and Waterloo); northern and eastern Ohio (Wauseon, Sandusky, Cleveland, and Cadiz); northern West Virginia (Doddridge County); northern Maryland (Baltimore); and southern Delaware (Seaford and Frankford). Its occurrence, without indication of breeding has been reported north to Sigourney, Iowa; Lake Koshonong and Racine, Wis.; Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Detroit, Mich.; Frankfort Springs and Narberth, Pa.; Mamaroneck, N. Y.; Hartford, Conn.; and Dedham, Mass. =East= to southeastern Delaware (Frankford); and the Atlantic coast to central eastern Florida (Titusville). =South= to south-central and western Florida (Titusville, Bassinger, Punta Rossa, Tarpon Springs, St. Marks, and Pensacola); the Gulf coast of Mississippi and Louisiana to eastern and central Texas (Port Arthur, Houston, Brazoria County, San Antonio, and Ingram). =West= to eastern Texas (Ingram, Austin, Waco, Rhome, and Gainesville); central Oklahoma (Dougherty, Oklahoma City, and Ponca City); southeastern Kansas (Neosha Falls), central Missouri (Columbia); and western Illinois (Knoxville).

The territory as outlined is occupied by two geographic races: the eastern yellow-throated warbler (D. d. dominica) breeds from Maryland southward and east of the mountains; the sycamore yellow-throated warbler (D. d. albilora) breeds from the mountains westward.

Winter range.--The two races appear not to mingle in winter. The yellow-throated warbler winters =north= to northwestern Florida (Pensacola and St. Marks); and casually to southern Georgia (Thomasville and Brunswick). =East= to southeastern Georgia (Brunswick); the Bahamas (Watling and Great Inagua Islands); Dominican Republic (Samaná); Puerto Rico; and St. Thomas; casually to Montserrat. =South= to Montserrat, casually; Haiti (Port au Prince); and Jamaica. =West= to Jamaica; Grand Cayman; western Cuba (Isle of Pines and Habana); and western Florida (Pensacola).

The sycamore warbler winters regularly =north= to southern Sinaloa (Mazatlán); Nayarit (Tepic); southern Veracruz (Tlacotalpan); Yucatán (Progreso); and Quintana Roo (Cozumel Island). =East= to Quintana Roo (Cozumel Island and Xcopén); British Honduras (Belize); central northern Honduras (Ruatán Island and Puerto Castilla); southeastern Nicaragua (Greytown); and central Costa Rica (San José and Cartago). =South= to Costa Rica. =West= to western Costa Rica (Cartago); western Guatemala (Dueñas and Totonicopán); western Guerrero (Acapulco); western Michoacán (Coahuayana); Colima (Colima); and southwestern Sinaloa (Mazatlán). It also winters in small numbers in Cameron County, Tex.

Migration.--Late dates of departure from the winter home are: Puerto Rico--Ponce, February 26. Haiti--Île à Vache, April 29. Cuba--Cienfuegos, April 15. Bahamas--New Providence, April 15. Veracruz--Tres Zapotes, March 25.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Alabama--Greensboro, March 10. Georgia--Augusta, March 2. South Carolina--Columbia, March 23. North Carolina--Raleigh, March 13. Virginia--Lawrenceville, March 19. District of Columbia--Washington, March 24.

Late dates of fall departure are: Ohio--Toledo, September 28. Indiana--Bloomington, October 9. Missouri--St. Louis, October 11. Kentucky--Bowling Green, October 5. Tennessee--Nashville, October 3. Arkansas--Helena, October 10. Mississippi--Biloxi, October 12. Louisiana--Monroe, October 16. Texas--Brownsville, October 8. District of Columbia--Washington, September 27. Virginia--Lynchburg, October 6. North Carolina--Chapel Hill, October 6. Georgia--Athens, October 11.

Early dates of fall arrival are: Bahamas--Nassau, July 26. Cuba--Guantánamo, July 11. Jamaica, August 16. Dominican Republic--Monte Viejo, August 26. Puerto Rico--Fortuna, August 28. Mexico--Chiapas, Ocote, August 13. Guatemala--San Lucas, August 7. Honduras--Truxillo, September 26. Costa Rica--San José, September 17.

Casual records.--A number of specimens of the sycamore warbler have been taken on the Atlantic seaboard.

Egg dates.--Florida: 11 records, April 17 to June 9; 7 records, April 20 to 29.

South Carolina: 31 records, April 2 to May 22; 21 records, April 14 to 26, indicating the height of the season (Harris).

DENDROICA DOMINICA ALBILORA Ridgway

SYCAMORE YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER