White-winged Warbler
Xenoligea montana
A denizen of mature montane forests wherein it feeds low in thickets and shrubs. Often found in pairs, but sometimes in mixed feeding flocks. Eye-catching, with bright green back and gray crown contrasting sharply with near white underparts. Named for the bold white stripe in otherwise black primaries. Similar Green-tailed Ground Warbler has red eyes, grayer underparts, and lacks white in wing. Calls include high sharp “tsee” and a brief, upslurred “tswee.” Song is a low chatter.
Identification
The white-winged warbler is 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) and weighs 12 to 13 g (0.42 to 0.46 oz). The sexes are alike and not particularly dimorphous. Adults have a gray head and neck, a white stripe from the beak to the eye above black lores, and white arcs above and below the eye. The back and rump is olive and the tail an almost-black dark gray with white spots on the tips of the outer feathers. The wings are also very dark gray with white on the primaries that shows as a white patch on the closed wing. The underparts are white-washed with gray on the breast and flanks. Juveniles are similar to adults,z but with an overall brown cast to the adult colors.
Taxonomy
The white-winged warbler is the only member of genus Xenoligea. It was originally named Microligea montana, sharing that genus with the green-tailed warbler (M. palustris), but was later recognized in its own genus. Those two species were originally placed in the New World wood warbler family Parulidae, but taxonomists were unsure they belonged there. DNA evidence published in the early 2010s showed they were not related to other wood warblers and in 2017, they were moved to the newly created family Phaenicophilidae. The two species in the genus Phaenicophilus were also moved there from the "true" tanager family Thraupidae.<p>The white-winged warbler is monotypic, with no subspecies recognized.
- Scientific name
- Xenoligea montana
- Authority
- (Chapman, 1917)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Phaenicophilidae
- Genus
- Xenoligea
Range and habitat
The white-winged warbler is limited to montane regions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In the former it is found in the Cordillera Central, Sierra de Bahoruco, and Sierra de Neiba. In Haiti it is found in the Massif de la Hotte on the western Tiburon Peninsula and possibly other parts of the peninsula closer to the Dominican Republic. The species inhabits several forest types that have in common a dense understory; they include mature humid broadleaf, pine-broadleaf, pine, and karst limestone forests, as well as secondary forest. In elevation it ranges between 875 and 2,000 m (2,900 and 6,600 ft), but is most numerous above 1,300 m (4,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The white-winged warbler is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The white-winged warbler forages in vegetation at all levels of the forest. Its diet includes arthropods and seeds, especially those of Trema micrantha. It frequently forages in small groups and also joins mixed-species foraging flocks with other members of the family Phaenicophilidae and the Hispaniolan spindalis (Spindalis dominicensis).<p>The white-winged warbler's nesting season is believed to be May to July. The only known nest was found in 2004. It was a cup of moss, leaves, lichen, and other plant material lined with small fibers and placed in a vine thicket 2.5 m (8 ft) above the ground. It contained two eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.<p>As of late 2022, xeno-canto had only two recordings of white-winged warbler vocalization; the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library had several more. The species' song is "a series of high-pitched, squeaky notes that accelerate at the end". It also makes "a low-pitched tseep" and "a low-pitched chattering suit..suit..suit..chir..suit..suit..suit..suit..chir..chi" calls.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Persian Shearwater
Puffinus persicus
A relatively small shearwater with uniformly white underparts. The upperparts are pale brown throughout with some of the brown extending to the flanks. The wings are almost entirely brown except for a white shaft down the middle. Though small in size, it is heavily built with proportionally broad wings. Flies low over the water with a purposeful and fast flight and smooth gliding. Feeds off the water surface and occasionally makes shallow dives.
Hume's Lark
Calandrella acutirostris
Small, pale brown lark. Sandy-colored above and whitish below, with distinct white eyebrows and a slender bill. Greater Short-toed Lark is extremely similar, and distinguished only with difficulty; in Hume’s, look out for a plainer and relatively unstreaked crown, more contrastingly white eyebrows, and a more slender bill. The same combination of characteristics, along with a plain unmarked chest, can also be used to eliminate Asian Short-toed Lark. Clean underparts, lack of a strong crest, and size serve to distinguish Hume’s from other larks. Breeds in high-altitude steppe and plateau regions, in dry areas with sparse vegetation; winters in similar habitat at lower elevations. Song flight is composed of jumbled whistled, warbled, and harsher buzzing notes with long pauses between phrases; includes more whistling than similar-sounding Greater Short-toed Lark, and averages shorter-phrased in full song flight and slower overall. Call is a rolling, buzzy “cheeer,” drier and more rattling than that of Greater Short-toed.
Bornean Banded-Pitta
Hydrornis schwaneri
Snappy-looking pitta with a broad egg-yolk-yellow eyebrow, black mask, coffee-brown back, and finely barred underparts. Male has a yellow throat, black crown, and indigo belly patch. Female is similar but duller, with no indigo belly patch, a whitish throat, paler underparts, and a pale brown crown. Listen for its song, a series of well-spaced explosive but mellow “byow!”s. Widely distributed but uncommon to locally common; inhabits hill and lowland dipterocarp forests, where it seems to favor dry ridges, hilltops, and limestone areas.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.