Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)

Abundance: Fairly Common during late spring, summer, and early fall; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from Regional bird-monitoring efforts indicate the population breeding in the Region is probably stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; Visitor during winter (2 records; see Remarks [below]); photograph (see link below).

Regional High Count and SBC/SBB High Count: 153 (15 May 2010; Cumberland County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.).

Out-of-Season (Winter) Records:

30 December 2003 (1) below Center Hill Dam on Buffalo Valley Nature Trail, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Michael J. Hawkins; Stedman and Hawkins 2003), a CBC record.

23/24 January 2004 (1/1) Walnut Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman/Stephen J. Stedman photo, Winston A. Walden; Stedman and Hawkins 2003).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: x (

    Late Fall: x (

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 5 May; fall departure largely complete by 15 August, possibly earlier.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

* But see also Out-of-Season (Winter) Records (above).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). 

Habitat: A lover of second-growth sites that have grown to a height of 3–8 m (7–25 ft), the chat is seldom found far from such places during the breeding portion of its annual cycle.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 9 (of 125 possible) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 28 (of 206 possible) check-lists during 2004, leading to YardWatch frequency classifications of Very Uncommon and Uncommon, respectively; neither of these frequency classifications was consistent with the overall Regional abundance classification for this warbler.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: Most of the population migrates early, usually before September; some individuals apparently migrate to a second breeding site, located in western Mexico, each autumn before entering the wintering part of their annual cycle.

    The two sightings listed under Out-of-Season (Winter) Records took place during the same winter.  At each of the sites where chats were observed that winter, a plentiful supply of soft mast was present, with privet  (Ligustrum sp.) being the main soft mast item at the DeKalb County site and with bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) being the main soft mast item at the Putnam County site (Stedman and Hawkins 2003).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited