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Adelaide's Warbler | Setophaga adelaidae
Adelaides zanger | Reinita mariposera
Adelaide's Warbler is a grey and yellow wood-warbler found only in Puerto Rico and Vieques. Until the 2010s the birds of Saint Lucia and Barbuda were also included in this species; since they were split off as St. Lucia Warbler and Barbuda Warbler, Adelaide's Warbler as now understood is endemic to the Puerto Rico island group.
Voice
The song is a rapid, clear trill that may rise or fall in pitch and varies between birds and from moment to moment; it can be heard all year. The call is a short, dry chip.
Recording: Orlando A. Acevedo-Charry — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
About 12 cm. The upperparts are plain blue-grey, the throat and breast bright yellow, the belly whitish. A short yellow supercilium runs above the eye, and there is a white crescent below it. The wing shows two white wing bars and the outer tail feathers have white spots.
Confusion species
Mangrove Warbler Setophaga petechia and American Yellow Warbler Setophaga aestiva are wholly yellow to olive-yellow, without a grey back. Northern Parula Setophaga americana, a winter visitor, also has a yellow throat and white eye-crescents, but shows a green mantle patch and no yellow supercilium. Prairie Warbler Setophaga discolor, another winter visitor, is olive-green above with black streaks on the yellow flanks. Elfin Woods Warbler Setophaga angelae of the montane forest is black and white, with no yellow.
Habitat
Mainly dry deciduous forest and thorn scrub in southern Puerto Rico, as in the Guánica forest, and coastal scrub; in smaller numbers in moister forest in the north and in the central mountains. It searches the middle and upper levels of forest and scrub for insects and spiders, and often joins mixed flocks with Puerto Rican Tody, vireos and other warblers.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Only in Puerto Rico and on the island of Vieques. The stronghold is the dry south coast of Puerto Rico. The species does not occur outside these islands.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The dry forest of Guánica and the dry scrub along the south coast, early in the morning when the birds are singing. Mixed flocks with Puerto Rican Todies and Puerto Rican Vireos are a good lead; Adelaide's Warbler often moves higher in the canopy within them.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species is common in the dry forest of the south; the Guánica forest, its main stronghold, is a protected area.
Scientific name
Setophaga adelaidae | (Baird, 1865)
Baird described the species in 1865 as Dendroica adelaidae; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Setophaga was introduced in 1827 by Swainson. Setophaga is Greek, from sēs, sētos 'moth' and -phagos '-eating': 'moth-eater'. adelaidae honours Adelaide Swift (1829–1884), daughter of Robert Swift, who obtained the first specimen from Puerto Rico. The specimen the first description was based on came from Puerto Rico.