#oreothlypis

[herpsandbirds]

Flame-throated Warbler (Oreothlypis gutturalis), male, family Parulidae, Costa Rica

photograph by @rgfoto_cr

[best-bird-tournament]

Oreothlypis warbler

Which is the best bird?

Flame-throated warbler

Crescent-chested warbler

Voting ended onJul 16, 2025

[proton-wobbler]

Warbler Showdown; Bracket 8.2, Poll 2

Flame-throated vs Louisiana

Flame-throated Warbler

Louisiana Waterthrush

Voting ended onJun 8, 2024

Flame-throated Warbler (Oreothlypis gutturalis)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident (non-migratory); highlands of central Costa Rica and northern Panama

Habitat: humid montane forests and their edges

Subspecies: none

Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: migratory; from the Northeast states down the Appalachian mountains and into the Southeast, as well as the Mississippi river drainage from Missouri down to Texas; overwinters in the Greater Antilles, as well as Mexico down through the very top of Colombia.

Habitat: found most consistently around streams, preferring those in close-canopy, hilly, deciduous or mixed-evergreen forests, both during breeding and overwintering seasons.

Subspecies: none

Image Sources: Flame (Bradley Hacker); Louisiana (Malcolm Kurtz)

[that-crazy-scorpio-man]

Is this a goldfinch?  I was informed it’s an orange-crowned warbler.  A new bird for me.

[proton-wobbler]

Warbler Showdown Finale: Bracket 8

Choose your Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler

Flame-throated Warbler

Voting ended onJul 27, 2024

Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera)

IUCN Rating: Near Threatened

Range: migratory; breeding range now heavily restricted to northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, with other populations occurring in southern Ontario and northern New York. Overwinters in Central America, from very Southern Mexico to the northern edge of Colombia.

Habitat: prefers clear cuts with very little canopy cover but high herbaceous cover, also seeming to prefer wetter habitats than the Blue-winged Warbler. Overwinters in similar habitat, though they're more likely to use forested areas.

Subspecies: none

Flame-throated Warbler (Oreothlypis gutturalis)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident (non-migratory); highlands of central Costa Rica and northern Panama

Habitat: humid montane forests and their edges

Subspecies: none

Image Sources: GWWA (Austin Groff); FTWA (Bradley Hacker)

[proton-wobbler]

Genus: Oreothlypis

Flame-throated Warbler (type species) by Chris Jimenez

You would think we've run out of thlupis names but no, onward we go. Oreos means 'mountain', and thlupis refers to an unidentified, small bird as quoted a single time by Aristotle, and that gives us "small, mountain bird".

There are only two members of this genus, the Flame-throated Warbler and the Crescent-chested Warbler. Both were placed into Vermivora or Parula for a time being, even though the genus was designated back in 1884 by R.S. Ridgway. 2008 genetic analysis by G. Sangster is what led to their separation from Vermivora.

[proton-wobbler]

Warbler Showdown; Bracket 8, Poll 2

Flame-throated vs Crescent-chested

Flame-throated Warbler

Crescent-chested Warbler

Voting ended onJan 15, 2024

Flame-throated Warbler (Oreothlypis gutturalis)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident (non-migratory); highlands of central Costa Rica and northern Panama

Habitat: humid montane forests and their edges

Subspecies: none

Crescent-chested Warbler (Oreothlypis superciliosa)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident; central Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, in mountainous regions

Habitat: semihumid to humid oak-heavy forests, as well as pine-oak and oak-evergreen mixed forests.

Subspecies: 5

Image Sources: Flame (Bradley Hacker) Crescent (Dubi Shapiro)

[proton-wobbler]

Warbler Showdown!

All members of the New World Warbler family, Parulidae, fight for their chance to be called Top Warbler*! This will be a big mess of rounds and brackets, broken up by genus mostly. There's also an extra bracket of "used-to-be warblers"- any species which used to be included in Parulidae before various studies determined their place outside of this family group. (*of the Americas)

A summary of the brackets below and fully listed out at: Round 1

Brackets 1 & 2: Setophaga

Coming in at a whopping 36 species (depending on who you ask), Setophaga has been broken up over two brackets to help deal with the amount. For the special case of Yellow-rumped Warbler, it will be split into three subspecies, rather than being represented as a single, confusingly diverse species. These warblers are typically the most well-known in the states, especially during spring migration.

Bracket 3: Myiothlypis

The first group of a split South American genus. There are more species in this genus (seventeen total), which is why it comes first.

Bracket 4: Basileuterus

The second of the South American split- with only twelve species compared to the eighteen above.

Bracket 5: Geothlypis

The yellowthroats! All members of this species have bright yellow throats and underbodies, and are often associated with marshy, reed-y ponds.

Bracket 6: Myioborus

The redstarts! Well, the American redstarts. The genus name actually means 'whitestart', and sometimes these species are referred to as such, but for my sources they all follow the 'redstart' name.

Bracket 7: Leiothlypis & Cardellina

Our first combo bracket. Leiothlypis are generally more dull than the Cardellina, so they'll be fighting within their own genus at first before being mix-matched to fight each other in the second round.

Bracket 8: Vermivora, Parkesia, & Oreothlypis

Three genuses, each with two extant species. The Bachman's Warbler, recently declared extinct, will still be included this bracket, though, so Vermivora will be represented by three species.

Bracket 9: Odd Ones Out

There are eight warblers who stand alone, each in their own genus. This is probably the most diverse bracket, then, with a variety of habitats and ranges represented within.

Bracket 10: "Y'all don't even go here!"/Not-"Warblers"

At one point or another, each of these ten birds was considered a part of the Parulidae family. They now span six families, with some birds being the sole member of their new family. Changing taxonomy is familiar amongst birders, and including these not-quite warblers pays homage to that.

The tentative schedule is one bracket per week, starting in early November. My queue will likely be filled with warblers before that, though :)

Edit: forgot to mention, but Birds of the World will be my info source throughout the poll, but as it is behind a paywall it will not be linked to each post. It functions as a sort of encyclopedia for all birds and is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, with its own citations of scientific papers when applicable. I personally dont recommend it for casual enjoyers, but it has been really good for gathering concrete information to share with y'all via this page.