GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)

Species Code: DEPE

This is an "at risk" species

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

This species is a common breeder in riparian habitats (banks of rivers or streams) with hardwood trees throughout the state at lower elevations, locally in the Columbia Basin, where it is declining in some areas.

Core zones were forested zones below the Subalpine Fir and Mountain Hemlock zones, plus steppe zones other than the Central Arid Steppe and Canyon Grassland zones, which were peripheral. In forested zones all fresh water/wetlands were good habitats (except the Ponderosa Pine and Oak zones). All fresh water/wetlands and hardwood forests; low density development and agriculture, mixed forests, and conifer forests were suitable if appropriate habitat (small wetlands in this case) occurs within the larger mapped habitat. The Oak and Ponderosa Pine zones were treated similarly except that non-irrigated agriculture was excluded. In steppe zones, wetlands and hardwood forest were good, low-density development was adequate, and mixed and conifer forests were suitable if appropriate habitat was available.

Washington breeders represent the western subspecies D.p. morcomi. Breeding Yellow Warblers are closely associated with riparian hardwood trees, specifically willows, alders, or cottonwood. They are most abundant in riparian areas in the lowlands of eastern Washington, but also occur in all forested zones except Ponderosa Pine and Oak Zones. In the lowlands of the western Olympic Peninsula, where high rainfall limits hardwood riparian habitat, Yellow Warblers are less common. There are no BBA records at the probable or confirmed level from subalpine habitats in the Cascades, but there are reports of them nesting at 4000 feet in the Olympics. Numbers decline in the center of the Columbia Basin, but this species can be found commonly along most rivers and creeks at the margins of the Basin. A local breeding population exists in the Potholes area, but has been declining in recent years. Statewide, Breeding Bird Survey data show a significant population decline of 2.9% per year from l966 to l991.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester