photo by Phil Swanson

Icteria virens
L 7 1/2″ (19 cm).

Song or calls:
Listen (NGPC audio)

Song is unmusical jumble of harsh, chattering clucks, rattles, squawks, and clear whistles. Male usually sings from conspicuous perch.

Description: Long-tailed and thick-billed. Olive-brown above; bright yellow throat and breast; white belly and undertail coverts; white spectacles; white whisker stripe; black eye patch. Lores are black in males, gray in females.

Behavior: During display flight, male hovers with legs dangling.

Habitat: Ravine or streamside thickets with small trees and tall shrubs, forest edges, dense stands of tree saplings, and clumps of shrubs in overgrazed pastures.
Where in Nebraska: Common spring and fall migrant and summer resident across the state.
Fun Facts: Unlike most warblers, the Yellow-breasted Chat has been known to mimic the calls of other birds.

 
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