Arrowhead warbler

The arrowhead warbler was first formally described as Sylvicola pharetra in 1847 by the English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse with its type locality given as Bluefields Peak.^[2] This species is now classified within the genus Setophaga which belongs to the family Parulidae, the wood warblers or New World warblers.^[3] The arrowhead warbler forms a superspecies with the Elfin woods warbler (S. angelae) of Puerto Rico and the Plumbeous warbler (S. plumbea) of Guadeloupe and Dominica.^[4]

The arrowhead warbler is classified in the genus Setophaga, this name means "moth eater" in Greek. The specific name, pharetra, is Latin and means "quiver".^[5]

The arrowhead warbler is sexually dimorphic, the male has bold, rather untidy black streaks on the white head, mantle and scapulars with a plain greyish rump changing to olive-grey on the uppertail coverts. The wings are blackish with thin pale edges to the feathers, these form a double pale wingbar on the greater coverts. The underparts are whitish marked with arrowshapted black streakson the throat, breast, upper belly and the grey washed flanks, the undertail coverts greyish-brown The female is similar to the male but duller and less contrasting than the males and their streaks being greyer in colour. This bird is 12.5 cm (4.9 in) in length.^[4]

The arrowhead warbler is endemic to Jamaica where it is found in humid forests in both mountains and lowlands, but it does not breed in the lowlands.^[4]