Yellow-breasted Chat

Yellow-breasted Chat

Icteria virens

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Dallas

In 3 days <5%

51 Verified sightings at Dallas
3,250 In all 32 parks From 2019 to 2026
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Yellow-breasted Chat

The yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens) is a large songbird in its own family, Icteriidae, that is found in North and Central America. It was once placed in the New World warbler family Parulidae and is occasionally placed in the similarly named New World blackbird family, Icteridae.

The yellow-breasted chat was formally described in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus, coined the binomial name Turdus virens, and specified the type locality as "America". The specific epithet is Latin meaning 'green'. The locality has been restricted to South Carolina. Linnaeus based his account on the "yellow brested chat" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. It is now the only species placed in the genus Icteria that was introduced in 1808 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. It is also the only species placed in the family Icteriidae that was introduced (as Icterieae) in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird.

The yellow-breasted chat was formerly... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:14

United States · 2026

© Chris Harrison · XC1103428 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:21

United States · 2013

© Tero Linjama · XC942709 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flight call1:28

United States · 2023

© David A. Brinkman · XC807580 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
2 Biotopo Cerro Cahuí 🇬🇹 Guatemala
~10%
3 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇧🇿 Belize
~10%
5 Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
6 Lago de Yojoa 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
7 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
9 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
11 Calakmul Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
12 Tikal National Park 🇬🇹 Guatemala
<5%
13 Bahía de Loreto National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
14 Congaree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
15 Redwood National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
16 Badlands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
17 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
18 Cañón del Sumidero National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
19 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
20 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
21 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
22 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
23 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
24 Guadalupe Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
25 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
26 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
27 Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
28 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
29 Grand Teton National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
30 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
31 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
32 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 León 🇲🇽 México
~10%
2 Houston 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
3 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 San Antonio 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
5 Denver 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
6 Toronto 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
7 Guadalajara 🇲🇽 México
<5%
8 San Pedro Sula 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
9 San Diego 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Austin 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 National Zoological Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-breasted Chat in Dallas?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-breasted Chat sighting in Dallas on a given day, based on 51 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 169th most-seen of the 253 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Yellow-breasted Chat in Dallas?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-breasted Chat in Dallas on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Yellow-breasted Chat?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-breasted Chat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Dallas the best place to see a Yellow-breasted Chat?

14th of 32

Of the 32 cities where we can rate Yellow-breasted Chat sightings, Dallas ranks 14th at under 5%. The best odds are in León (México, about 10%), Houston (United States, under 5%) and Los Angeles (United States, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Yellow-breasted Chat live in Dallas?

Same family: Parulidae

The closest relatives of the Yellow-breasted Chat that you can see in Dallas (family Parulidae, New World Warblers) are Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 30%), Orange-crowned Warbler (about 10%) and Nashville Warbler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Yellow-breasted Chat sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Yellow-breasted Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Dallas (51 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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