Justification This last confirmed breeding record of this species was in 1937, and it has not been reported since 1988. It may have gone extinct as a result of habitat destruction both on the breeding and wintering grounds. However, it cannot yet be presumed to be Extinct until all remnant patches of possible breeding habitat (e.g. Congaree swamp in South Carolina) have been searched, and recent unconfirmed reports have been followed up. Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).

Family/Sub-family Parulidae

Species name author (Audubon, 1833)

Taxonomic source(s) AOU checklist (1998 + supplements), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Identification 12 cm. Delicate warbler with slender, decurved bill. Adult male, black forecrown, grey hind-crown and nape, yellow forehead, eye-ring, lores, supercilium and throat. Yellow underparts with black patch on upper breast and white undertail. Olive-green upperparts, grey wings with olive fringes and yellow lesser coverts, grey tail with white spots on inner webs of all but central rectrices. First-year male, duller with indistinct black breast patch and no black forecrown. Adult female, duller with whitish eye-ring, no black and less well marked head. First year female, even duller and paler below. Juvenile, brownish, buffy-yellow below, whiter on throat, two buffy wing-bars. Similar spp Hooded Warbler Wilsonia citrina differs from female by bill, eye-ring, and grey crown contrasting with nape and forehead. Voice Song a buzzy, pulsating, insect-like trill, sometimes given in song flight. Call a low, hissing zee e eep.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

<50

unknown

-

No

Range & population Vermivora bachmanii is known to have bred in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and South Carolina, USA, and there are breeding-season records from various other south-east states. Birds wintered in Cuba and occasionally Florida, USA. The last nest was found in 1937, but there have been recent (unconfirmed) sightings⁴. Small areas of suitable habitat remain, and the species may still survive¹.

Ecology: It bred in seasonally flooded swamp-forest, always near standing water¹, apparently showing a strong association with canebrakes of the bamboo Arundinaria gigantea. Winter habitat requirements are much less specific, with records from dry forest, wetlands and urban areas², but apparently favouring wooded areas with flowering Hibiscus trees¹. Breeding occurred from March-June, with the nest constructed in the shelter of a dense bush or tangle of vegetation¹.

Threats The drainage of river-bottom swamplands¹, and the near-total clearance of canebrakes in the USA, combined with the conversion of much of Cuba to sugarcane plantation, offer the best explanation for the disappearance of this species.

Conservation measures underway There is currently no action being taken for this species. Searches within the large expanses of suitable habitat that remain on the wintering grounds would be costly and most probably futile³.

Conservation measures proposed Systematically search the small areas of remaining breeding habitat^1,3.

References Collar et al. (1992). 1. Curson et al. (1994). 2. Hamel (1995). 3. A. Mitchell in litt. (1998). 4. K. Rosenberg in litt. (2003).

Further web sources of information

Audubon WatchList

Text account compilers Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Rob Pople (BirdLife International - European Division), Rob Pople (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Contributors Greg Budney (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology), Ken Rosenberg (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Vermivora bachmanii. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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