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Yellow-breasted Chat

ID Info
Silhouette ChatsChats
Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
  • ORDER: Passeriformes
  • FAMILY: Icteriidae

Basic Description

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.

More ID Info
image of range map for Yellow-breasted Chat
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
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Find This Bird

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.

Other Names

  • Reinita Grande (Spanish)
  • Ictérie polyglotte (French)
  • Cool Facts