Yellow-breasted Chat
Icteria virens
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyParulidae (New World Warblers)
- GenusIcteria (Yellow-breasted Chats)
- SpeciesIcteria virens (Yellow-breasted Chat)
About the Yellow-breasted Chat
The yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens) is a large songbird in its own family, Icteriidae, that is found in North and Central America. It was once placed in the New World warbler family Parulidae and is occasionally placed in the similarly named New World blackbird family, Icteridae.
The yellow-breasted chat was formally described in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus, coined the binomial name Turdus virens, and specified the type locality as "America". The specific epithet is Latin meaning 'green'. The locality has been restricted to South Carolina. Linnaeus based his account on the "yellow brested chat" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. It is now the only species placed in the genus Icteria that was introduced in 1808 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. It is also the only species placed in the family Icteriidae that was introduced (as Icterieae) in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird.
The yellow-breasted chat was formerly... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Saguaro National Park
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
Lucy's Warbler
Leiothlypis luciae
Yellow Warbler
Setophaga petechia
Northern Yellow Warbler
Setophaga aestiva
Orange-crowned Warbler
Leiothlypis celata
Common Yellowthroat
Geothlypis trichas
Wilson's Warbler
Cardellina pusilla
Audubon's Warbler
Setophaga auduboni
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Setophaga nigrescens
Canada Warbler
Cardellina canadensis
Northern Parula
Setophaga americana
Ovenbird
Seiurus aurocapilla
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-breasted Chat in Saguaro National Park?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-breasted Chat sighting in Saguaro National Park, based on 607 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Yellow-breasted Chat in Saguaro National Park?
May has the highest sighting rate for Yellow-breasted Chat in Saguaro National Park in our monthly data.