Tropical Parula
Setophaga pitiayumi
Small short-tailed warbler; bright and boldly patterned. Blue-gray above with green back, two bold white wingbars (limited white in Middle American birds), and yellow-orange throat and chest. Males have darker face and brighter yellow-orange chest than females. Bill is sharp, black above and yellow below. Very similar to Northern Parula; note lack of white eyearcs and no dark markings on breast. Beware of rarely-occurring hybrids and some dull immatures, which can be very similar to Northern Parula. Common and widespread in forests throughout Central and South America; rare in U.S.; found only in mossy forests in southern Texas.
Identification
It is 4.3 in (11 cm) long and has mainly blue-grey upperparts, with a greenish back patch and two white wing bars. The underparts are yellow, becoming orange on the breast. The male has a black patch from the bill to behind the eye.<p>Females are slightly duller than males and lack black on the head. The immature tropical parula is dull-plumaged, lacks the wing bars, and has a grey band on the breast.<p>The song is a high buzzy trill, and the call is a sharp tsit.<p>The tropical parula has about 14 subspecies, with a wide range of plumage tones. S. p. graysoni, is endemic to Socorro in the Revillagigedo Islands. Some subspecies (especially insular ones) are occasionally considered separate species.<p>Setophaga pitiayumi has occasionally been lumped with the closely related northern parula (S. americana) as a single species. Hybrids are routinely found in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas, though this may be a recent phenomenon. Most tropical parulas can be distinguished from the northern parula by their lack of white-eye crescents, but this may be ambiguous in hybrids. One should also look for the distribution and extent of non-yellow coloration on the breast, and the extent of yellow below the cheek and on the belly.<p>In addition, a partially leucistic tropical parula female was seen in 2005, at Reserva Buenaventura in El Oro Province, Ecuador. With several small white areas on the forehead and around the eyes, this bird appeared much like a hybrid, but such birds would only occur as far south as Panama (if they would migrate like the northern parula).
Taxonomy
Genus: Setophaga; Family: Parulidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Setophaga pitiayumi
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Parulidae
- Genus
- Setophaga
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Volcano Hummingbird
Selasphorus flammula
Male throat varies from steely grayish-purple to bright magenta; note short straight bill and rufous in tail. Female similar to Scintillant Hummingbird but with dark central tail feathers. Small hummingbird that feeds on small flowers in gardens, second growth, and forest edges, mostly above 2000m.
MacGregor's Bowerbird
Amblyornis macgregoriae
The common and widespread bowerbird of montane forests. Fairly large, stocky brown like other closely-related species, but the male has a long, flowing, orange crest from the back of its head. The male builds a “Maypole” bower of sticks from a central pole and has a circular mossy arena at the base. Similar to the Streaked Bowerbird, but MacGregor's Bowerbird is found higher up and is larger and unstreaked. Call, a loud rasping. Various whistles and other sounds made at the bower, including mimicry.
Olive-winged Bulbul
Pycnonotus plumosus
Large plain bulbul of lowland forests, edges, and mangroves. Dull brown with gray-streaked ear coverts, red eyes, and olive-green panels on the wings. Other similar large brown bulbuls such as Red-eyed and Cream-vented can also have olive tones in the wings, but less prominently. Song is a simple series of bubbly warbling interspersed with sharper notes.
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