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Pink-headed warbler
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Pink-headed warbler
The pink-headed warbler (Cardellina versicolor) is a small passerine bird found in the southwestern highlands of Guatemala and the central and southeastern highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas. The adult is primarily red, with a silvery-pink head and chest. It is a fairly common to common resident of humid to semi-humid pine-oak, pine-evergreen and evergreen forest and edge, at altitudes ranging from 1,800–3,500 m (5,900–11,500 ft) above sea level.
When Osbert Salvin first described the pink-headed warbler in 1864, he assigned it to the genus Cardellina. It was also briefly assigned to Setophaga, the genus of the American redstart, before being moved to the genus Ergaticus in 1881. It is monotypic across its limited range, but forms a superspecies with the red warbler, which is found in the highlands of Mexico, north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Despite disjunct populations and considerably different plumages, the two have sometimes been considered to be conspecific.
A comprehensive 2010 paper by Irby Lovette and colleagues analysing mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of the wood-warblers found that the red and pink-headed warblers were each other's closest relative and that their common ancestor diverged from a lineage that gave rise to the red-faced warbler. The authors recommended moving the red and pink-headed warblers back to the genus Cardellina, which has been adopted by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).
"Pink-headed warbler" has been designated the official name by the IOC, and is a reference to its most notable feature. The genus name Cardellina is the diminutive of the Italian cardella, a regional name for the European goldfinch, while its specific name, versicolor, is Latin for 'of changeable or various colors'. The latter is a reference to the warbler's changeable head color, which, depending on the angle of the viewer, looks either frosty pink or a deeper red than the rest of its body. In Spanish, the species is called cabeza plateada or 'silvery head'.
The pink-headed warbler measures 12.5–13.5 cm (4.9–5.3 in) in length, and weighs 10 g (0.35 oz). Both sexes have a similar plumage, though females are, on average, slightly duller overall. The adult has dark red upperparts, a silvery-pink chest and pinkish-red underparts. Its head is silvery-pink, with a reddish forehead, dusky lores and dark brown irises. Its bill is blackish, sometimes showing some horn color on the lower mandible, and its legs are flesh-colored.
The juvenile is a rich brown with slightly paler underparts. However, that plumage is quickly molted. By late summer, young birds are virtually indistinguishable from adults; only their unossified skulls distinguish them.
The pink-headed warbler's call is high, thin, and somewhat metallic, variously transcribed as tsiu, ssing or tseeip. It also has a low, weak chip that it uses to stay in contact with its mate. Its song is a series of short trills and chips, described as being "clear and cheery" and reminiscent of the song of the yellow warbler, as well as slower and less varied than that of the red warbler. Only males sing. While its calls are heard year-round, the pink-headed warbler sings mostly between February and May, and is silent during the rainy month of June.
The pink-headed warbler is endemic to the highlands of central and eastern Chiapas in Mexico, and to western Guatemala. It is a fairly common to common resident of humid to semi-humid pine-oak, pine-evergreen and evergreen forest and edge, at altitudes ranging from 1,800–3,500 m (5,900–11,500 ft) above sea level. It prefers forest with dense, undisturbed understory, but is also found in disturbed forest with damaged understory in its strongholds in Guatemala; this is thought to be suboptimal habitat. Though it is among the species expected to occur in El Salvador, it has not yet been reported there.
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Pink-headed warbler
The pink-headed warbler (Cardellina versicolor) is a small passerine bird found in the southwestern highlands of Guatemala and the central and southeastern highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas. The adult is primarily red, with a silvery-pink head and chest. It is a fairly common to common resident of humid to semi-humid pine-oak, pine-evergreen and evergreen forest and edge, at altitudes ranging from 1,800–3,500 m (5,900–11,500 ft) above sea level.
When Osbert Salvin first described the pink-headed warbler in 1864, he assigned it to the genus Cardellina. It was also briefly assigned to Setophaga, the genus of the American redstart, before being moved to the genus Ergaticus in 1881. It is monotypic across its limited range, but forms a superspecies with the red warbler, which is found in the highlands of Mexico, north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Despite disjunct populations and considerably different plumages, the two have sometimes been considered to be conspecific.
A comprehensive 2010 paper by Irby Lovette and colleagues analysing mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of the wood-warblers found that the red and pink-headed warblers were each other's closest relative and that their common ancestor diverged from a lineage that gave rise to the red-faced warbler. The authors recommended moving the red and pink-headed warblers back to the genus Cardellina, which has been adopted by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).
"Pink-headed warbler" has been designated the official name by the IOC, and is a reference to its most notable feature. The genus name Cardellina is the diminutive of the Italian cardella, a regional name for the European goldfinch, while its specific name, versicolor, is Latin for 'of changeable or various colors'. The latter is a reference to the warbler's changeable head color, which, depending on the angle of the viewer, looks either frosty pink or a deeper red than the rest of its body. In Spanish, the species is called cabeza plateada or 'silvery head'.
The pink-headed warbler measures 12.5–13.5 cm (4.9–5.3 in) in length, and weighs 10 g (0.35 oz). Both sexes have a similar plumage, though females are, on average, slightly duller overall. The adult has dark red upperparts, a silvery-pink chest and pinkish-red underparts. Its head is silvery-pink, with a reddish forehead, dusky lores and dark brown irises. Its bill is blackish, sometimes showing some horn color on the lower mandible, and its legs are flesh-colored.
The juvenile is a rich brown with slightly paler underparts. However, that plumage is quickly molted. By late summer, young birds are virtually indistinguishable from adults; only their unossified skulls distinguish them.
The pink-headed warbler's call is high, thin, and somewhat metallic, variously transcribed as tsiu, ssing or tseeip. It also has a low, weak chip that it uses to stay in contact with its mate. Its song is a series of short trills and chips, described as being "clear and cheery" and reminiscent of the song of the yellow warbler, as well as slower and less varied than that of the red warbler. Only males sing. While its calls are heard year-round, the pink-headed warbler sings mostly between February and May, and is silent during the rainy month of June.
The pink-headed warbler is endemic to the highlands of central and eastern Chiapas in Mexico, and to western Guatemala. It is a fairly common to common resident of humid to semi-humid pine-oak, pine-evergreen and evergreen forest and edge, at altitudes ranging from 1,800–3,500 m (5,900–11,500 ft) above sea level. It prefers forest with dense, undisturbed understory, but is also found in disturbed forest with damaged understory in its strongholds in Guatemala; this is thought to be suboptimal habitat. Though it is among the species expected to occur in El Salvador, it has not yet been reported there.
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