Category: Parulidae

Extra-pair mating, male plumage coloration andsexual selection in yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia)

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 14 abstract Extra-pair mating has been proposed as a source of sexual selection responsible for secondary sexual traitsthat are common among socially monogamous birds, although supporting evidence is scant. In the socially monogamous yellow warbler, males are larger than females, and unlike females, have extensivereddish streaking on their breasts. […]

Food abundance and parental care in yellow warblers

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 1 abstract Emlen and Oring (1977) suggested that monogamy in birds is maintained because of the need for strict biparental care. A corollary of their suggestion is that paternal care should decrease under conditions of high food abundance. An alternative is that paternal care would increase if males take […]

Speciation and rapid phenotypic differentiation in theyellow-rumped warblerDendroica coronatacomplex

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 7 abstract The relative importance of the Pleistocene glacial cycles in driving avian speciationremains controversial, partly because species limits in many groups remain poorly understood,and because current taxonomic designations are often based on phenotypic characteristicsof uncertain phylogenetic significance. We use mtDNA sequence data to examinepatterns of genetic variation, sequence […]

Do female Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia) incubatewhile in the nest during the laying period?

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 2 abstract Although some passerine species heat their eggs during the brief periods of nest attentiveness early in the laying period (e.g., Haftorn 1981), egg temperature data are not available for Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia). As part of a larger study on the effect of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) […]

Male plumage, paternal care and reproductive success in yellow warblers,Dendroica petechia

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 13 abstract Using morphological or behavioural features correlated with paternal care, females can, priorto mating, assess the potential parental contribution of males. As a first step in a study of female matechoice in yellow warblers, this study was designed to examine the importance of paternal care by malesof diVering […]

Breeding habitat use by sympatric and allopatric populations of Wilson’s Warblers and Yellow Warblers

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 15 abstract We studied Wilson’s Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla) and Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) habitat use in allopatric and sympatric populations in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming in order to better understand the different habitat needs and interactions of these two species. Janet M. Ruth and […]

yellow warbler (dendroica petechia) breeding biology and parasitism by the shiny cowbird (molothrus bonariensis) inboqueron, puerto rico

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 6 abstract Aspects of the breeding biology of the Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) and ShinyCowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) parasitism were studied in Boqueron, Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2002.Fifty-seven percent (n = 12) of warbler nests were parasitized. Survival of parasitized nests was lowerthan non-parasitized nests. Thirty-four percent of nests […]

Adoption of yellow warbler nestlings by song sparrows

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 3 abstract Although interspecific brood adoption has been reported in several species of birds, theprocess by which it occurs has seldom been reported. We observed a pair of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) that adopted a brood of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia) and, gradually, over several days, took over the […]

Cuckoldry and lack of parentage-dependent paternal care in yellow warblers:a cost-benefit approach

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 10 abstract Theory suggests that a male strategy of reducing parental care in response to reducedparentage should evolve only under certain conditions. Expected paternity in subsequent matings ispredicted to be primary in effect, because it determines whether there is a future benefit to compensatemales for the cost of reduced […]

parental feeding of nestling yellow warblers in relation to brood size and prey availability

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) Science Article 12 abstract The feeding by adult Yellow Warblers (Dendroicap etechia) of nestlings in broods of 3, 4, or 5 young was studied during two breeding seasons on the forested dune ridge near Delta, Manitoba. Broods of 2-day-old young were selectively fed geometrid larvae by the adults, and broods of […]