New World Warblers (Parulidae)

Mourning Warbler (Oporornis philadelphia) - HBW 15, p. 768

French: Paruline triste German: Graukopf-Waldsänger Spanish: Reinita Plañidera

Taxonomy: Sylvia Philadelphia A. Wilson, 1810, within a few miles of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Genus sometimes subsumed in Geothlypis. Forms a species pair with O. tolmiei, the two probably constituting a superspecies; ranges overlap in W Canada (Peace Region of British Columbia); claimed hybrids from this zone have been considered variants of present species with white eye-crescents (such variants occur throughout this species' range), but recent analysis combining molecular and morphological data sets confirms numerous hybrid individuals with mixed characters, including 18 of 50 birds genotyped (36%) showing both western and eastern alleles. Also known to have hybridize.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Sylvia Philadelphia A. Wilson, 1810, within a few miles of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Genus sometimes subsumed in Geothlypis. Forms a species pair with O. tolmiei, the two probably constituting a superspecies; ranges overlap in W Canada (Peace Region of British Columbia); claimed hybrids from this zone have been considered variants of present species with white eye-crescents (such variants occur throughout this species' range), but recent analysis combining molecular and morphological data sets confirms numerous hybrid individuals with mixed characters, including 18 of 50 birds genotyped (36%) showing both western and eastern alleles. Also known to have hybridized with Geothlypis trichas, Wilsonia canadensis and O. formosus. Reported hybrid with O. agilis generally thought to have been aberrant individual of present species; reported hybrid with Vermivora cyanoptera now considered to have involved interbreeding of latter species with O. formosus. Monotypic.

Distribution: Breeds in CW & S Canada (SE Yukon and E British Columbia E to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia) and in NE USA S to N Illinois, N Ohio, N New England and, in Appalachians, to West Virginia. Migrates to Central America (S from S Nicaragua) and NW South America.

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