Altamira Yellowthroat
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| Geothlypis flavovelata (Ridgway, 1896) |
The Altamira Yellowthroat, Geothlypis flavovelata, is a New World warbler. It is a resident breeding bird endemic to coastal northeastern Mexico.
It is closely related to Common Yellowthroat, Belding's Yellowthroat and Bahama Yellowthroat, with which it forms a superspecies, and was formerly considered conspecific with those species.
The Altamira Yellowthroat is 13 cm long and has a yellow-green back and bright yellow belly. The adult male has a black facemask and yellow crown. Females are similar, but lack the black mask and have an olive crown. This species is easily distinguished from wintering Common Yellowthroats by its uniform yellow underparts, in contrast to Common’s white belly.
The breeding habitat is coastal marshes and lagoons, usually with cattails. Little is known of its breeding or feeding habits, but other yellowthroats build a cup nest low in vegetation and feed on insects, usually captured in dense vegetation, so it is likely that Altamira Yellowthroat does the same
The song is a loud wichety wichety wichety wich, and the call is a soft jip. The vocalisations are very similar to those of Common Yellowthroat, and are not readily distinguishable to the human ear. Altamira and Common Yellowthoats, however, do not respond to tapes of the other’s song.
There has been a decline in numbers of this localised bird due to loss of favoured habitat.
[edit] Reference
- BirdLife International (2006). Geothlypis flavovelata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable
New World Warblers by Curson, Quinn and Beadle, ISBN 0-7136-3932-6
