Common Yellowthroat
(Geothlypis trichas)

Overview

Summary

© Dan Busby
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The widespread Common Yellowthroat breeds in all Canadian provinces and reaches into Yukon and the Northwest Territories. This ground-nesting species prefers wet areas, but will readily nest wherever there is thick vegetation suitable for nest cover (Guzy and Ritchison 1999). The Breeding Bird Survey indicates a moderate decrease in its Canadian population since 1970. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Though the Common Yellowthroat is not currently targeted by any management plan, it likely benefits from the North American Waterfowl Management Plan through the restoration and conservation of large wetlands (Guzy and Ritchison 1999). Habitat loss from increasing urbanization and agriculture across the species’ range negatively impacts the species (Guzy and Ritchison 1999) and may be of increasing conservation concern.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Guzy, M.J. and G. Ritchison. 1999. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Guzy, M.J. and G. Ritchison. 1999. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)