The Yellow-breasted Chat is the largest of our warblers.  At least it was our largest warbler.  After writing the original version of this blog I found out the warbler classification of the Yellow-breasted Chat is in jeopardy because of several changes being proposed by the the American Ornithological Society's North and Middle American Classification Committee.  Here is a partial quote from the proposal.  "The Yellow-breasted Chat is no longer part of the wood-warbler family, Parulidae, and gets its own family Icteriidae, not be confused with the blackbird family Icteridae."  Well, the change is official and if you care to read about it, you can here.

Regardless of its classification, the Yellow-breasted Chat is a pretty cool bird.  If you hope to see one, you better look in the spring while the male is singing for a mate or protecting his territory because they are fairly quiet the rest of the summer.

Yellow-breasted ChatMale (Black Lores)

YellowBreastedChatRangeMap

Yellow-breasted ChatMale (Black Lores)

Yellow-breasted ChatMale (Black Lores)

One of the fun moments of bird photography is when the bird sits on a branch for an extended period of time and preens.  The preening session usually ends with a total body fluff-up like this male is doing in the next photograph.  Notice the black coloration in the region between the eye and the nostrils?  That area is called the lores.  A male chat has black lores and the female has gray lores. Yellow-breasted ChatMale (Black Lores)

Yellow-breasted ChatMale (Black Lores)

Although the Yellow-breasted Chat's population has declined in parts of the southwest, their population is mostly stable.  As more eastern forests are being cleared to create brushy habitat, their population has been increasing.  Keep in mind when I refer to "forests being cleared" I don't mean for urban development.  That doesn't help their population at all.  Clearing forests is a good thing when old growth is logged out creating habitat for many birds that prefer new-growth areas.

Thanks for looking,

Dan