Mangrove Yellow Warbler

As noted in my prior post on the migratory northern yellow warbler (Setophaga aestiva), there are now two yellow warbler species, the non-migratory mangrove yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia) being the second. It primarily inhabits the narrow strips of mangroves along the coast of North America, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. It has a variable amount of chestnut streaking on the breast and on the head. The streaking is more prominent in adult males and less in females, in fact the chestnut on the head may be entirely absent in females. There are 28 subspecies in this new classification. There is a petechia group that is largely chestnut-capped found in the Caribbean and an erithachorides group, chestnut-hooded, found in coastal Central and northern South America. 

I've seen ssp. aureola, the Galapagos mangrove yellow warbler, found in the Galapagos Islands and Cocos Island off Costa Rica. I saw it in August 2022 near Espinosa Point on Fernandina Island (see four photos below). I saw a male. 

Illustration of ssp. aureola, a female, from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of ssp. aureola, a male, from Birds of the World. 

The one I saw most recently, in March on Caye Caulker in Belize, is ssp. bryanti, found on the Caribbean coast from southeast Mexico (Campeche) south to southern Nicaragua. If it had been a male, it would have had a beautiful chestnut hood, but as a female it had no chestnut on the head at all. 

The range of the mangrove yellow warbler, from Birds of the World, follows:

Note that it is limited to the coastal regions. 

Northern Yellow Warbler

The yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia) was split into two species in October 2025: the migratory northern yellow warbler (S. aestiva) which breeds across North America and the non-migratory mangrove yellow warbler (S. petechia) which is resident in the coastal mangroves in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. I'd previously done a post on the yellow warbler on March 23, 2025 which really only featured the Galapagos yellow warbler. I've subsequently seen more yellow warblers since then and will do this post on the northern and a post tomorrow on the mangrove species. 

My most recent photo of a northern yellow warbler - in Tikal NP in Guatemala. 

This and the next two photos are of the same bird in Big Morongo on May 20, 2023. 

In Big Morongo on June 15, 2025. 

Illustration of female from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

White-Collared Manakin

In Tikal NP, on March 19, 2026, I saw several white-collared manakins with my guide Rony. They were imbedded deep in some spindly trees and I was not able to get my camera lens to focus on them and they were gone before I could get my lens on manual and focused. Their yellow bellies and white collars stood out as did a pretty constant clicking noise. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Several years ago I saw a very similar golden-collard manakin in Colombia and got much better views of it. The white-collared and golden-collared manakins are known to hybridize. 

Golden-collared manakin in Colombia. 

I also saw and only got very poor photos of the club-winged manakin and striolated manakin in a different part of Colombia and I now consider the manakins very interesting and difficult to see birds that I look forward to finding and seeing.  

Illustration of a female white-collared manakin from Birds of the World. There may have been females in the grouping I saw, but it was the males with the white-collars, jumping around and clicking, that stood out. It is a bird I would really loved to get a photo of. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

During breeding the males are involved in lekking behavior. A lek is a congregation of males gathered to compete in competitive displays and courtship rituals known as "lekking." The male white-collared manakins congregate on the ground and puff-out their neck feathers and do loud wing-snapping displays. 

Singing Quail

On March 21, 2026, at Finca El Pilar near Antigua, Guatemala, I was with my guide Bobby hiking up a trail that got steeper as we went along. Eventually we encountered wooden steps that we used to trudge more steeply. We were encountering the musical sounds of singing quail. I had a hard time believing it was quail as it was very un-quail-like. Bobby was getting occasional glimpses of them running through the understory, but I was always late for dinner. Finally, Bobby pointed one out to me quite close, below us, and I saw one for a few seconds, but I did not have enough time to memorialize it with a photo before it disappeared again into the bushes. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World.

 

Xunantunich - Belize

On March 18, 2026 we visited the Mayan archaeological site of Xunantunich in western Belize, about 70 miles west of Belize City and very near the border with Guatemala. It is on a ridge above the Mopan River near the town of San Jose Succotz and relatively near the larger town of San Ignacio. We started the day in Caye Caulker, an island off of Belize City, took a water taxi to Belize City and then drove to San Jose Succotz. Our guide stopped along the way to show me a jabiru stork, a beautiful bird that was a lifer for me. It was standing quite a distance from the road and took flight, providing me some fun photos.

Jabiru

We got to the Mopan River and had to cross it on a small barge. We had swallows flying about and landing on the barge, above us and below us. I thought they were tree swallows, but it turned out they were another lifer for me, mangrove swallows. 

Mangrove swallow

On the way back across the Mopan River on the barge I encountered more mangrove swallows, but also a beautiful green heron, not a lifer, but I bird I don't see often. 

After the barge on the way in, we parked the car and started an uphill walk to the archaeological site. There was some loud squawking and our guide told me they were brown jays, another lifer for me. I immediately focused on trying to see these loud and elusive birds and over the course of our time there I saw quite a few of them. 

Brown jay

Up among the Mayan ruins the most predominant animal was the black spiny-tailed iguana. We saw quite a few of them. They loved the perches provided by all of the stone. We'd seen them previously on a visit to the Mayan ruins in Comalcalco, State of Tabasco, Mexico, about nine years ago. 

Black spiny-tailed iguana

Inside a recess in the largest monument, El Castillo, our guide pointed out some bats hanging on the walls. I believe they were greater sac-winged bats. 

Greater sac-winged bat

We also saw a familiar turkey vulture and some less familiar golden-fronted woodpeckers. I first saw the golden-fronted woodpecker in Caprock Canyons State Park in the panhandle of Texas, but had just seen them again, for the second time, the day before on Caye Caulker in Belize. 

Turkey vulture

Golden-fronted woodpecker

I was hoping to see more wildlife at Xunantunich, but was thrilled to get two lifers there and one on the road to get there. 

Lake Hodges - near Escondido, California

For my birthday this year Judy surprised me with a visit to Lake Hodges. We drove to Escondido and spent the night on Friday, April 17, and went birding at Lake Hodges on Saturday morning. We used to live in San Diego and I remember hearing about Lake Hodges back then, but I never knew where it was. I was very surprised to learn it was only 3 miles south of Escondido. It is on the San Dieguito River so it snakes along through a canyon and is not very wide. When full it has a maximum depth of 115 feet and a 27 mile shoreline. However, in 2017, following the Oroville Dam crisis in northern California, the state conducted spillway inspections on all state dams and Hodges Dam did not pass inspection. So the maximum level of the dam was lowered to 20 feet below the spillway so repair work could take place. The water level was further reduced in May 2023 when cracks and defects in the dam were discovered. Apparently construction of a new dam was started and the dam, lake and recreation area were opened again in June 2023. The new dam is anticipated to be completed in 2034. The current water level is about 76 feet. Following are photos of our morning:

Male California quail

Bushtit

Anna's hummingbird

Western bluebird

Red-tailed hawk

Clark's grebe

Western grebe. Distinguished from the Clark's grebe by its eye being part of the upper black part of its head, as opposed to in the white below the black part of the head. 

All of the grebes we saw were Western grebes, except for the Clark's grebe we saw first thing. The grebes were doing their fun mating rituals like this synchronized swimming. 

Killdeer with its tail feather fluffed out. I don't believe I've ever seen that before. Quite beautiful. 

The killdeer as it looks normally. 

Black crowned night heron. We saw four or five flying together land near each other in trees. 

Snowy egret in breeding plumage. 

Great-tailed grackle. Lots of them around. 

California scrub-jay with mansion on the nearby hill as a backdrop. 

Acorn woodpecker on a granary tree. Note all the imbedded acorns. 

Black phoebe working on an insect. 

Lesser goldfinch. 

Great egret

Mourning dove

Eurasian collared dove

Blue grosbeak. However, the beautiful colors are masked by the early morning light and fog. 

Northern rough-winged swallow. Swallows were heavy in the area flying in crazy patterns. I thought they were bats. 

Cliff swallow

American coot. 

Lake Hodges is a beautiful area with lots of wildlife. Very fun to go to a new location and expand our knowledge of California.