Yellow-breasted Chat

Yellow-breasted Chat Seen at Whitehead Island

Yellow-breasted Chat [Mark Morse Photo]

The Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) is a rare visitor to New Brunswick.  It is seen mainly along the Fundy coast and islands in the fall and into winter.  It is rarely seen inland.  We would normally have about 2 or 3 reports per year.  The bird shown above was seen 23 November and 2 and 3 of December on Whitehead Island, off Grand Manan.  

Even though the Yellow-breasted Chat is classified with the warblers, it looks different.  It is larger (19 cm/7.5 in),  has a very large bill, a long tail, and a much different voice.  Its most noticeable field mark is its brilliant yellow breast and throat.  Note also the olive gray upperparts and the white spectacles.  It often holds its tail high as seen in the photo above.  

The chat is a secretive bird and often hides in dense tangled vegetation.  The male, however, sometimes sings from an exposed perch.  Its song is extremely varied but can be a series of notes given repetitively in a decelerating manner.  It also makes liquid whistles and harsh rasping sounds.  It can also mimic other sounds.  It would make you think there were many birds hidden in that bush!

The Yellow-breasted Chat is the only member of the Icteria genus.  There has been a lot of debate over the years about where it should be classified.  Some have suggested it should be classified with the mockingbird family (mimicry) or with the tanagers (big bill).  But, DNA testing has placed Icteria with the wood warblers.  It just shows how malleable a species can be over evolutionary time.  

The breeding range of this species is most of the US and northern Mexico with a possible small area in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.  It winters from northern Mexico south to Panama.  The population has been in decline over much of its range due to habitat loss and urbanization.  

Yellow-breasted Chat feeds on insects including bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers and beetles.  It will also eat berries and wild grapes.  It builds its nest of bark, grass and leaves in a dense bush.  Three to six white eggs are laid and incubated 11 to 12 days by the female. 

This species has an interesting breeding display flight which most of us here in New Brunswick have not seen (since it does not breed here).  It hovers with slow, deep-flapping wings and dangling feet.  That must be a pretty sight with that brilliant medium-cadmium yellow breast flashing against the dark olive.  The Yellow-breasted Chat was first described by Linnaeus in 1758.  It is a species we would all want to see and record on our annual lists.