Bachman's warbler
| Bachman's warbler | |
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| Live bird photographed by Jerry A. Payne in 1958 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Parulidae |
| Genus: | Vermivora |
| Species: | V. bachmanii |
| Binomial name | |
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Vermivora bachmanii Audubon, 1833 |
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| Former range of V. bachmanii Breeding range Winter range | |
Bachman's warbler (Vermivora bachmanii) was a small passerine migratory bird that is probably extinct. This warbler was a migrant, breeding in swampy blackberry and cane thickets of the southeast United States and wintering in Cuba. The last sighting (unconfirmed) was in Louisiana, in August 1988.
This bird was discovered in 1832 by the Reverend John Bachman, who discovered the species near Charleston, South Carolina, and presented study skins and descriptions to his friend and collaborator, John James Audubon. Audubon never saw the bird alive but named it in honor of Bachman in 1833.
Bachman's warbler does not have any extremely close relatives, though the blue-winged and the rapidly declining golden-winged warblers, are also members of the genus Vermivora, are thought to be its closest relatives. There were no known subspecies.
Bachman's warbler is a sexually dimorphic species and the adults have two distinct plumages, one for the spring and one for the fall. In the spring, adult males have a yellow forehead, supraloral, and supercilium. The area below the bird's eye is yellow, while the lores are a dusky olive. The bird's forecrown is black with gray at the edges, while the rear crown and nape are olive-gray. The rest of the bird's upperparts are an olive green, with the rump being the brightest. The chin and upper throat are yellow, while the center throat and upper chest are black. The belly is yellow, and the undertail coverts are white. Males in their first spring are nearly identical to the adult male, but have less black on their crown and chest.
During the spring, adult females are a light yellow in their forehead and supraloral, blending into the gray crown and nape. Its lores are a gray-olive and it has a white eye ring. The rest of the female's upperparts are an olive-green, which like the male is brightest on the rump. The chin and throat are also a light yellow, while the sides of the neck and the upper breast are gray. Older females have a few black upper breast feathers. The rest of the breast and the belly is light yellow, blending into white on the undertail coverts. The flanks are also washed with gray. First spring females resemble the adult female, but appear duller.
Bachman's warbler molts over the summer into its fall plumage. For adult males, the fall plumage is nearly identical to the spring, with the only difference being that the forecrown changes from black to gray. First year males also resemble their spring plumage, but have an olive forecrown and duller yellow underparts. Adult females possess the same plumage, though it looks fresher in the fall, while first year females have an olive-yellow forehead and a dull eyering.
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Wikipedia