Bachman's Warbler

Bachman's warbler (Vermivora bachmanii) is a likely extinct passerine migratory bird. This warbler was a migrant, breeding in swampy blackberry and cane thickets of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States and wintering in Cuba. There are some reports of the bird from the twenty-first century, but none are widely accepted. Some authorities accept a sighting in Louisiana, in August 1988 as confirmed, but the last uncontroversial sightings date to the 1960s. Bachman's warbler is a sexually dimorphic species and the adults have two distinct plumages, one in the spring and one in the fall. In the spring, adult males have a yellow forehead and supercilium. The area below the bird's eye is yellow, while the lores are a dusky olive. The bird's forecrown is black with gray at the edges, while the rear crown and nape are olive-gray. The rest of the warbler's upperparts are an olive green, with the rump being the brightest. The chin and upper throat are yellow, while the center throat and upper chest are black. The belly is yellow, and the undertail coverts are white. Males in their first spring are nearly identical to the adult male, but have less black on their crown and chest. During the spring, adult females are a light yellow in their forehead and supraloral, blending into a gray crown and nape. Its lores are a gray-olive and it has a white eye ring. The rest of the female's upperparts are an olive-green, which like the male is brightest on the rump. The chin and throat are also a light yellow, while the sides of the neck and the upper breast are gray. Older females have a few black upper breast feathers. The rest of the breast and the belly is light yellow, blending into white on the undertail coverts. The flanks are also washed with gray. First spring females resemble the adult female, but appear duller.