Mangrove Yellow Warbler (Greater Antillean), Coco Point Road, Barbuda, Feb 28, 2020
Mangrove Yellow Warbler (Martinique), Reserve Naturelle de La Caravelle, Martinique, Dec 13, 2017
Mangrove Yellow Warbler (Martinique), Reserve Naturelle de La Caravelle, Martinique, Dec 13, 2017
Northern Yellow Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 25, 2025
There has been a recent split of Yellow Warbler that has resulted in me gaining a new warbler species without having to go anywhere! Yellow Warbler has now been split into Northern Yellow Warbler (the migratory form that breeds in North America and winters in the tropics) and Mangrove Yellow Warbler (the resident form that breeds in coastal locations from just into the US south through Central America to northern South America and throughout the Caribbean). Visually the Northern Yellow Warbler males have all yellow heads while the Mangrove Yellow Warblers have rufous/chestnut coloration on the head varying from just the cap to a full hood (depending on subspecies). I have seen multiple subspecies of Mangrove Yellow Warblers over the years during my travel in the tropics but have not yet had it in the US (hopefully I will catch up with one in Texas in a few weeks). It was a split that was overdue given the difference in plumage, habitat, migratory pattern and even song and I was glad to finally see it come to pass. With this split the number of new world warblers recognized by eBird stands at 116 species (with two of those almost certainly extinct) and I have seen 106 with the only remaining species for me being in the remote Darian on the Panama/Colombia border and in Venezuela.
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