#genus feature

Ovenbird (monotypic) by Rhododendrites

What! A! Bird! During banding I refer to these as "thrush warblers", for fairly obvious reasons: round and dappled. The etymology of their genus comes from Seio 'to shake' and oura 'tail', referring to their habit of bobbing their tail as they forage. These warblers prefer to forage on the ground, which is also where they nest! This oddly shaped nest is what gives them their common name, though to save some confusion, they aren't at all related to the South American family of ovenbirds.

Ovenbird on nest (Asher Higgins)

Ovenbirds are often better known by their song, a bouncing and rising "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!" that echoes around the woodlands they call home. Sometimes their density can be so overwhelming in the breeding season that my past coworkers have reported having trouble hearing any other birds in the area.

Red-breasted Chat (type species) by John Cahill

The three species of this genus look remarkably similar and can be hard to tell apart by pictures alone, though the Grey-throated Chat is less dark than its two sister species. Thankfully their range is the help here, with Rose-breasted Chat being a South American bird and Red-breasted Chat being a Mexican bird. Grey-throated spans some of the gap between the two.

Originally, this genus was only used for the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Meaning 'moth-eater', it was used to refer to the flycatcher-like habits of the American Restart, which sallies forth from a perch to catch flying insects rather than plucking them from vegetation.

In 2010, however, a newly published paper disrupted what was thought of Parulidae taxonomy. Using a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of the family, several genus were merged into Setophaga. Not only that, but a separate genus of warbler was cleaved in two based on the findings.

The Hooded Warbler was previously listed under the genus Wilsonia along with Wilson's Warbler and Canada Warbler. They had even been in an obsolete genus together before this (Sylvania), though this was changed to Wilsonia for other reasons. The 2010 study showed that Wilsonia was polyphyletic, meaning the group may share similar traits, but do not share a common ancestor. Hooded Warbler was moved to Setophaga and Wilson's and Canada Warbler were placed into Cardellina, an existing genus with Red-faced, Pink-headed, and Red Warbler.

The two Parula species were also folded into Setophaga as a result of the 2010 study. The Northern and Tropical Parula were originally the only two members of this genus, with the Northern Parula being the type-specimen of New World Warblers as a whole. I find that a bit ironic, as they are one of the smallest warblers and show quite an unusual color patter when compared to the rest of Parulidae, but I don't exactly know how type-specimen are chosen.

The largest genus to be merged with Setophaga was Dendroica. When I first began learning species names, I was familiar with this as the genus for most warblers. Due to the way taxonomic names work, the name which was published first takes precedent in these merging scenarios. So, despite the fact Dendroica had around 30 species and Setophaga had just 1, Setophaga was published first in 1827 (Dendroica in 1842).

In summary, Setophaga went from just a single species to now being the largest in the Parulid family, holding 34 species!

Slate-throated Whitestart (type species)

Ahh the Whitestarts- or... Redstarts? Well- ok, it's a bit of both, really. "Start" is another word for "tail", and as far as optics go, all the birds in this genus have white feathers under their tails. Whitestart should be the name! And by IOC (International Ornithological Congress) standards, this is the case. But, Clements and the American Ornithological Society (AOS) use "redstart" as the common name, which is confusing on multiple levels. First of all, the name was originally given because of the resemblance to the American Redstart, which belongs in Setophaga- but that bird at least has a reddish tail! The second source of confusion is to a number of other "redstart" species which belong to the Muscicapidae family- the Old World Flycatchers. Changing the common name to "whitestart" all around would certainly simplify things, but in some cases tradition supersedes common sense when it comes to bird names.

The genus name translates to "fly eater", from muias for 'fly' and boros for 'devouring'. As far as warblers go, this is fairly common. Originally some European naturalists referred to the wood warblers as flycatchers, based on the jaunty sallies that many of the North American warblers do while capturing their prey and their superficial resemblance to Muscicapidae.

Whitestarts heavily inhabit the northern portion of South America, with some species trailing down the Andes and a few others coming up through Central and North America. The Painted Whitestart reaches into the United States, though just along the southwest border with Mexico. Their typical habitat preferences are mountain forest, woodland, and shrubs.

Painted Redstart

Olive Warbler (Ron Knight)

A bit of a confusing outlier, the Olive Warbler was placed originally in Parulidae until 1998, although there were multiple papers arguing for the species to be split out as early as 1962. And it seems for good reason! While I won't copy-quote or even try to summarize every little difference between wood warblers and the Olive Warbler, a huge reason is the fact that Peucedramus has 10 primary feathers while Parulidae only has 9. Even though their 10th feather is reduced in size, it's still an entire extra feather, and that trait alone splits a lot of birds into differing families. You don't randomly have an extra feather, you know?

Wrenthrush (Anthony Batista)

This bird is a whole host of "why is it named that? its not that kind of bird!" Neither a wren (Troglodytidae), nor a thrush (Turdidae), nor is it a member of the wood-warbler family (Parulidae). In 2017, along with the host of movements and restructuring that affected a lot of varying bird families, the Wrenthrush finally got its proper sorting: It's own family, Zeledoniidae! Like many of the outlying songbird families, it can be hard to pinpoint their place in the "family tree" (or perhaps "order tree" would be a better way to describe it--). The current theory is that the Wrenthrush is likely related to Spindalidae and the Cuban Warblers (Teretistridae), as well as more distantly related to New World sparrows (Passerellidae) and New World blackbirds (Icteridae).

Teretistris Illustration (John Gerrard Keulemans)

Oriente Warbler (above) and Yellow-headed Warbler (below)

Referred to as the Cuban warblers, these two species (Oriente and Yellow-headed) are the only two members of their shared genus and family. They were originally included with wood-warblers, but were split out in 2002. While other birds removed from Parulidae due to this study were not surprising, these two birds were not expected to be. This original finding was supported by a 2013 study, but their placement within the songbird family tree is still a mystery. Their genus name comes from teretisma for 'whistling/twittering', likely referring to the jumbled, bouncing, and buzzy sound of their song.

Oriente Warbler (Charles J. Sharp)

Blue-winged Warbler (type species) by Danial Irons

The etymology of the genus is fairly straightforward- "worm eater", from vermis 'worm' and -vorus 'eating'. They don't eat worms though; likely its being used instead as a fill-in for all sorts of bugs. This genus is characterized by a dainty and sharp bill, much like a pair of tweezers and meant for picking small insects in the same sort of way. This is why the members of Leiothlypis used to be included in this genera before genetic analysis suggested a split occur. Now only three species remain, though the Bachman's Warbler has recently been declared extinct.

Fun fact: genetic analysis has also caused quite a bit of controversy with the remaining (extant) birds of this genus! There are two factions of birders who have differing opinions about Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warbler. Based on morphology, song, habitat preference, and historical range, these two species should remain separate species, as they always have been. Based on genetics... they could be lumped into the same species... one study found that only six genomic regions differed, and they were associated with plumage color and pattern (abstract link). There are two prominent hybrids between these two species which even have their own names, as the phenotypes are fairly consistent: Brewster's and Lawrence's Warbler.

Brewster's Warbler (Matt Felperin) and Lawrence's Warbler (Geoff Malosh)

One reason why this Lump vs Split debate is so heated comes down to funding. Golden-winged Warbler are experiencing a dramatic loss in viable breeding habitat and thus have seen a downward population trend. Remaining as their own species with a Near Threatened conservation status gives them a higher priority as a research species. Being lumped in with Blue-winged Warbler, a bird of Least Concern by conservation status, would reduce Golden-winged to a subspecies and make funding for research and conservation harder to come by. Not to mention, there's more than one way to define a species, and human-based categorization doesn't always suit the way nature works. In my opinion, the two should remain separate species. If it weren't for human disturbance both destroying Golden-winged habitat while opening up new areas for Blue-winged to enter and thus hybridize with its sister species, these two would likely have continued their speciation process unhindered.