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Yellow "Mangrove" Warbler
Setophaga petechia bryanti
The Yellow "Mangrove" Warbler (Setophaga petechia bryanti) is one of a number of subspecies of the Yellow Warbler. Since it is so visually distinctive I have created a web page just for this subspecies. There is a possibility that this bird will eventually be declared a distinct species. The bird occurs along most of both coasts of Mexico, usually in mangroves. The first known occurrence of this bird in the U.S., was a bird photographed in Rockport, Texas, in 1978. In March, 1990, another individual spent more than a month at the mouth of the Rio Grande at Boca Chica, Cameron Co., Texas (singing from the dead mangroves which had been killed by a freeze the previous winter). In 2003 and 2004 a number of these birds were found in mangroves on the south Texas coast near Port Isabel and South Padre Island where they still occur, apparently all year long. The most recent sustained, killing freeze in deep south Texas, was in 1989, so I speculate these birds will remain here unless or until another killing freeze devastates the mangroves. The first 9 images here of a territorial male were taken in May, 2007, at South Bay, Cameron Co., Texas, with a Canon EOS 1D Mark II and EF 500mm F/4 L IS lens and 2X extender. My thanks to Scarlet Colley for taking us by boat to an isolated mangrove area where we could photograph this bird. Scroll down for images of this subspecies from Mexico.
In May, 2007, just a week after the above shots were taken, I was with several friends on a private ranch in southern Tamaulipas, Mexico, about 200 miles south of Brownsville, Texas. This ranch, which was on the coast and had some extensive areas of mangroves, also had a substantial population of Mangrove Warblers. The next 14 images show male Mangrove Warblers at this Mexico location. Although I saw several females, I was never able to get shots of them. These shots were taken with the same gear as those above.