{"id":3562,"date":"2020-10-23T00:47:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T00:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/?p=3562"},"modified":"2020-12-10T00:04:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T00:04:48","slug":"warblers-wear-masks-too-the-common-yellowthroat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/2020\/10\/23\/warblers-wear-masks-too-the-common-yellowthroat\/","title":{"rendered":"Warblers Wear Masks Too: The Common Yellowthroat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"\"
Figure 1: Be more like a Common Yellowthroat (photo by Noah Arthur<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Part 1: The Common Yellowthroat <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today I would like to discuss with you one of my favorite local species, the Common Yellowthroat. The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas<\/em>) is a Wood Warbler within the family Parulidae and order Passeriformes (Ebird<\/a>). There have been 30 different species of Wood-Warblers recorded on Vancouver Island, and out of those 30 species, only 10 species are commonly encountered (Ebird<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Identification and Description:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Common Yellowthroat is a sexually dimorphic species; males and females look different (Thusius 2001<\/a>). Both sexes are quite small, being only around 12cm from beak to tail (All About Birds<\/a>). Males and females have rounded heads and slightly rounded medium-length tail feathers (Sibley). Both birds have a yellow throat and yellow undertail covert feathers which can vary in shade geographically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The female warbler is typically an olive color, with a brownish head, a yellow throat, and a buffy belly. Compare this then to the male, while having similar features, also has a striking black mask around his eyes. The top of the mask is outlined with white feathers; this stands out against the brownish head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 2: A side-by-side comparison of male (left) and female (right) Common Yellowthroats (photo by Ryan Kayhart<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Juvenile Common Yellowthroats resemble an adult female, and juvenile males have a very patchy mask. I included a photo (below) of a young male I got to band with the Vancouver Island University (VIU) banding station in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 3: Young juvenile male Common Yellowthroat that is just starting to grow his mask (Photo by Madison Wagenaar)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Calls and Songs:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next time you are on a walk around Buttertubs Marsh in the spring, try to listen for the Common Yellowthroat’s call and song. Both the male and female make a very distinctive chedp<\/em> call that is quite full in sound and does not follow a pattern with respect to the number of chedp<\/em>s given (Sibley). Males, however, have a more charismatic sound and sing a three high-pitched wichety-wichety-wichety<\/em> song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sound 1: The two songs and call of the Common Yellowthroat. The chedp<\/em><\/em> call can be heard at 3 sec, whereas the wichety-wichety-wichety<\/em> song can be heard at 6 sec (sound recorded by Sue Riffe<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n