Yellow-breasted Chat, Icteria virens

By Lindsey Hernandez

The Yellow-breasted Chat offers a cascade of song in the spring, when males deliver streams of whistles, cackles, chuckles, and gurgles with the fluidity of improvisational jazz. It’s seldom seen or heard during the rest of the year, when both males and females skulk silently in the shadows of dense thickets, gleaning insects and berries for food. Larger and chunkier than a warbler, the chat is a widespread breeder in shrubby habitats across North America, venturing to Central America for the winter.

Though widespread, Yellow-breasted Chats can be hard to find, thanks to their habit of skulking in dense thickets. You’ll have the most success looking (or listening) for them early in the breeding season, when male performs his extensive repertoire of loud whistles, rattles, catcalls, grunts, and other sounds. He often sings from an exposed perch or while doing an exaggerated display flight that ends with a thumping sound (probably made by his wings). Pay special attention to birds that make scolding sounds but remain hidden in thickets; with patience and perhaps a few pishing sounds you may coax a chat into view.

• The Yellow-breasted Chat has always been a mystery to taxonomists—it looks similar to warblers but is larger, with a more varied repertoire of songs and calls, and also has other differences in behavior and anatomy. The species was placed in the warbler family (Parulidae) for decades, but in the late 2010s was given its own family (Icteriidae), in recognition of these differences.
• Though a small percentage of males have two mates at once, most appear to be monogamous during the breeding season. Female aggression may help enforce this monogamy. However, some infidelity happens behind the scenes: in a Kentucky study, one-third of nests contained at least one chick sired by another The Yellow-breasted Chat breeds in areas of dense shrubbery, including abandoned farm fields, clearcuts, powerline corridors, fencerows, forest edges and openings, swamps, and edges of streams and ponds. Its habitat often includes blackberry bushes. In arid regions of the West it is frequently found in shrubby habitats along rivers. During migration the Yellow-breasted Chat usually stays in low, dense vegetation but may sometimes use suburban habitats. Most of the population winters from Mexico (in lowlands along both coasts) to western Panama, in low vegetation similar to that in which it breeds. This wintering habitat includes shrubsteppe, savanna, pasture with scattered trees, riparian forest, mangroves, disturbed tropical forests, and tropical scrub.
• Yellow-breasted Chats forage mainly on spiders and insects, including beetles, bugs, ants, bees, mayflies, cicadas, moths, and caterpillars. They glean invertebrates from foliage in the dense thickets on their breeding grounds, using their feet to hold prey. Chats may also eat fruits and berries, including strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, and wild grapes. They feed their nestlings caterpillars, grasshoppers, and other soft-bodied insects. On wintering grounds, Yellow-breasted Chats rely on a combination of insects, spiders, and fruits for food.

During the breeding season, males sometimes fight near territorial boundaries, fluttering and grappling with their feet. They give display flights in the presence of females, other males, or human intruders. This entails descending from a high perch while singing, often with exaggerated wingbeats and a drooping tail. At the end of the flight they make a thumping sound, presumably with their wings. Most males stay with one mate during the breeding season, but some have two mates. DNA studies show that nestlings are sometimes fathered by males outside of the breeding pair. The female builds the nest and broods the chicks, and both parents feed the young. Though males sing conspicuously during the breeding season, chats otherwise skulk quietly in the underbrush. Their flight is direct and low through dense vegetation or sometimes across open fields. During the winter chats are sedentary and solitary, and individuals may defend territories.

Strange, long-tailed tanager-like bird with thick bill. Once thought to be a warbler, but now considered unique in its own family. Bright yellow throat and breast, contrasting white spectacles, and dull olive-green upperparts. Known for its skulking habits. Often difficult to see in dense thickets, shrubby areas, and field edges. In breeding season, however, males can sit on conspicuous perches to sing and even perform a flight display. Fairly widespread but typically uncommon across much of the U.S. and Mexico, wintering to Costa Rica. Song is variable series of slow whistles, hoots, and chatters. Feeds mainly on insects; also fruit in winter.

ellow-breasted Chats, oversize wood- warblers with varied and unmistakable vocalizations, are more easily heard than seen as they whistle, rattle and emit other weird noises from the middle of a dense bush. In spite of their apparent difference from wood- warblers, genetic studies place the chats within the wood-warblers, although not close to any other species. Yellow-breasted Chat has 2 recognized subspecies, inhabiting eastern and western North America respectively, more or less neatly separated by the Great Plains. The situation in Texas is less clear (Pyle 1997, Eckerle and Thompson 2001).

DISTRIBUTION. During the 1987-1992 field work seasons of the TBBA project, volunteers found 20 confirmed breeding sites, 244 probable and 89 possible sites. The low frequency of confirmed evidence is not surprising since most chat nests are well concealed in dense vegetation.. The densest concentration of sites was in east Texas, covering the Pineywoods and spilling over into the Post Oak Savannah and Blackland Prairies and Coastal Prairies regions (see the region map in Lockwood and Freeman [2004]). This band of breeding sites extends north into Oklahoma, where almost all breeding sites are in the easternmost quarter of the state (Versaw 2004). This area in the two states probably represents the eastern subspecies, I. v. virens. A second subspecies breeds in the western North America and west Texas. (Eckerle and Thompson 2001). Most breeding of the western race in Texas apparently occurs along the Rio Grande River in the Trans-Pecos and spottily on the Edwards Plateau.

The breeding range of the eastern subspecies extends east and north from Texas and Oklahoma to the Atlantic coast, southern Missouri and the Ohio River valley but excluding peninsular Florida. Chats also breed in the west, but in much more scattered sites and lower relative abundances. The species also breeds on the central plateau and in northwest Mexico. Chats winter on both coasts of central Mexico and from south Mexico to north Panama (Howell and Webb 1995, Eckerle and Thompson 2001, Sauer et al. 2005

SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. Most Yellow-breasted Chats arrive in Texas from early April to early May when they are considered uncommon to common throughout the eastern two-thirds of the state. Breeding occurs from early April to mid-August (occasionally later, based on egg dates from April 6 to September 15). Fall migrants are present from mid-August to mid-October (Oberholser 1974, Lockwood and Freeman 2004).

BREEDING HABITAT. In Texas Yellow-breasted Chats breed from near sea level to 1500 m (5000 ft) in a variety of brushy habitats. In western North America; suitable conditions are usually in riparian areas. About 90% of breeding sites in Colorado and Arizona are in riparian areas (Oberholser 1974, Roth and Kingery 1998, Eckerle and Thompson 2001, Corman 2005).

In eastern North America, higher moisture levels allow chats to breed in a greater variety of brushy areas such as overgrown fields, power-line corridors, hedgerows, forest edges and openings, gardens and parks as well as riparian areas (Eckerle and Thompson 2001, Versaw 2004).

The nest is built in dense vegetation about 1 m (3 ft) above ground by the female. The bulky cup is constructed of grass, leaves strips of bark and forb stems and lined with fine roots and hair (Oberholser 1974). The external diameter averages about 14 cm (5.6 in), internal diameter 7.7 cm (3.1 in) and cup depth 5.7 cm (2.3 in Eckerle and Thompson 2001).

The most common clutch is 4 (range 1-6) smooth, white eggs evenly speckled with red-brown to gray or purple. These are incubated by the female for 11-12 days and after hatching, the young birds remain in the nest for 7-10 days. Most chat pairs raise only one brood per season. The most common brood parasites of Yellow-breasted Chats are Brown- headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) although Bronzed Cowbirds (M. aeneus) have also been reported to parasitize chats (Harrison 1979, Eckerle and Thompson 2001).

STATUS. In comparison with the map in Oberholser (1974), TBBA atlasers found almost no breeding evidence for extreme south Texas or near the south and central coast. Breeding records also seem more scattered in the Post Oak Savannah and Blackland and Rolling prairies than on the map of historical records, suggesting the range of Yellow- breasted Chat in Texas has shrunk since observations were first made.

Lockwood and Freeman (2004) consider this chat a common to uncommon summer resident in the Trans-Pecos, Edwards Plateau and Pineywoods regions of this. state and TBBA observers found 20 confirmed, 244 probable and 89 possible breeding records for chats, mostly in these regions.

Data from 555 Breeding Bird Survey routes in Texas showed relative abundances as high as 10-30 chats per route in the Pineywoods and southwest Edwards Plateau regions. The data also provide a statistically significant annual population change of +3.9% for the period 1980-2005, compared to a +0.5% change for the whole breeding range (Sauer et al. 2005). These data are encouraging for the future of Yellow-breasted Chat as a breeding species in Texas.  

The Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) is a large North American songbird.  Even though it is seven inches in length with a thick bill, long tail, bright plumage, the Yellow-breasted is often heard before seen. The chat has a  yellow throat and breast contrasting with white belly and olive back. Sharp white “spectacles” on dark face. A Common Yellowthroat is much smaller, with different facial pattern.

Yellow-breasted chat whistle, rattle and emit other weird noises from the middle of a dense bush. In spite of their apparent difference from wood- warblers, genetic studies place the chats within the wood-warblers, although not close to any other species.  After years of taxonomic debate, the species was placed in its own family, Icteriidae, in the late 2010s.

The Yellow-breasted chat breed in dense, shrubby habitats across much of North America. These include abandoned farm fields, forest edges, clearcuts, fencerows, riparian corridors, and even suburban areas. In Texas,breeding sites have been concentrated in the Pineywoods, Edwards Plateau, and Trans-Pecos regions, often associated with thick vegetation like blackberry bushes. The chat’s preference for such dense cover helps explain why, despite a wide range, it often goes unnoticed outside of the breeding season.

Spring is the best time to encounter the Yellow-breasted Chat. During mating season, males sing boldly from exposed perches or while performing elaborate display flights, complete with exaggerated wingbeats, drooping tails, and a final thumping sound—likely created by their wings. These performances are as much about defending territory as they are about attracting mates. Fights between males near territory boundaries can be fierce, involving fluttering, grappling, and vocal displays.

Although generally monogamous, some males may have two mates during the breeding season. DNA studies show that up to one-third of nests contain at least one chick fathered by a different male, revealing that chat relationships may be more complex than they appear. The female builds the nest—a bulky cup of grasses, bark strips, and stems—usually about a meter off the ground in dense vegetation. She incubates the clutch of up to six speckled eggs for about 11–12 days, with both parents feeding the hatchlings.

Chats feed primarily on insects and spiders during the breeding season, including caterpillars, cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, bees, and moths. They also consume a variety of berries and fruits, such as wild grapes, blackberries, and elderberries. In winter, when they migrate to lowlands from Mexico to Panama, they continue to forage in similar dense, shrubby habitats and maintain a largely solitary lifestyle.

Compiled by Lindsey Hernandez 

Sources include Cornell Lab of Orinthology, Texas Breeding Bird Atlas and the National Audubon Society