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Setophaga chrysoparia

(Sclater and Salvin, 1860)

Golden-cheeked Warbler

G3Vulnerable Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G3VulnerableGlobal Rank
EndangeredIUCN
Very highThreat Impact
golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia). Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain (U.S. Government Work), via ECOS.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104938
Element CodeABPBX03110
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNEndangered
EndemicOccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations, but breeds in a single state or province
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyParulidae
GenusSetophaga
Synonyms
Dendroica chrysopariaSclater and Salvin, 1860
Other Common Names
Chipe Mejilla Dorada (ES) Golden-cheeked warbler (=wood) (EN) Paruline à dos noir (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Setophaga townsendi, S. occidentalis, S. virens, and S. chrysoparia constitute a superspecies (Mengel 1964). Setophaga townsendi and S. occidentalis hybridize extensively in Washington, where S. townsendi appears to be expanding its range at the expense of S. occidentalis (Rohwer et al. 2001, Krosby and Rohwer 2009) (AOU 2011).

Formerly in the genus Dendroica. Phylogenetic analyses of sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA (Lovette et al. 2010) indicate that all species formerly placed in Dendroica, one species formerly placed in Wilsonia (citrina), and two species formerly placed in Parula (americana and pitiayumi) form a clade with the single species traditionally placed in Setophaga (ruticilla). The generic name Setophaga has priority for this clade (AOU 2011).
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-11-16
Change Date2025-11-16
Edition Date2025-11-16
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G. (2011); rev. R. L. Gundy (2025)
Threat ImpactVery high
Range Extent20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 300
Rank Reasons
This species has a limited breeding range in central Texas and a limited nonbreeding range in Central America. The population has rebounded since the 1990s, but it is still very highly threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture, livestock pasture, logging, and climate change-induced drought conditions.
Range Extent Comments
The breeding range encompasses the Edwards Plateau and Cross Timbers ecoregions of central Texas, United States from west of the Dallas/Fort Worth area south to around San Antonio (AOU 1998, Ladd and Gass 1999, USFWS 2025). Using Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (2025) records, the breeding range extent is estimated to be 73,171 km² (RARECAT 2025).

The nonbreeding range extends from Chiapas, México south through Guatemala and Honduras with a very small portion found in El Salvador and northern Nicaragua (USFWS 2025). Elevational range is 800-2,600 m (2,600 to 8,500 ft.) (USFWS 2025). Using Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (2025) records, the nonbreeding range extent is estimated to be 153,447 km² (RARECAT 2025).
Occurrences Comments
Applying a 5 km separation distance to GBIF (2025) records, 88 breeding occurrences are estimated (RARECAT 2025).
Threat Impact Comments
Habitat loss is the primary threat to this species. Tens of thousands of hectares of breeding and nonbreeding habitat are lost annually (USFWS 2025). Breeding habitat has diminished due to juniper eradication programs and continuing urbanization (e.g., around Austin, San Antonio, and Waco) (USFWS 1990, USFWS 1992). Significant amounts of the remaining breeding habitat is in more or less isolated fragments less than 50 hectares in size; these small patches may support few or no breeding birds despite being apparently otherwise suitable for the species (Wahl et al. 1990). A primary cause of decline may be habitat loss from logging, firewood extraction, and agricultural conversion for cattle production in pine-oak habitats in southern México, Guatemala, and Honduras (USFWS 1992, Ladd and Gass 1999, Rappole et al. 2003, Rappole et al. 2005, USFWS 2025). Climate change is projected to cause an increasing frequency and severity of droughts and cause sharp declines in breeding habitat (Fernández 2025, USFWS 2025).

It is potentially threatened by a widespread Mediterranean fruit-fly eradication program (using malathion) proposed for Guatemala (Young, in Collar et al. 1992).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

Males have a black back, throat, upper breast, and crown; white belly; black-streaked sides; white wing bars; and a black line through the eye (contrasting with the large yellow area above and below the eye). Females and immatures are duller, the upperparts being olive with dark streaks and the chin yellowish or white; sides of throat are streaked; belly is white (NGS 1983).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Differs from black-throated green warbler (DENDROICA VIRENS) in lacking yellow on the underparts and in having a more clearly defined yellow ear patch; male has black back (olive in black-throated green warbler).

Habitat

Breeding habitat consists of old-growth and mature regrowth Ashe juniper-oak woodlands in limestone hills and canyons, at 180 to 520 meters elevation (summarized in Ladd and Gass 1999), including edges and open mosaics of Ashe juniper-scrub oak association in broken terrain in canyons and slopes, and closed canopy stands with plenty of old junipers and a sufficient proportion of deciduous oaks in the canopy (Sexton 1992); occupied sites contain junipers at least 40 years old. This species may occupy habitat patches as small as perhaps 50 hectares (larger if close to urban areas) (Sexton 1992). Nests usually are in upright forks of mature junipers, about 1.5-9 meters above ground. Sloughed juniper bark is an important nesting material material. Both males and females tend to return to the previously occupied nesting territory.

In migration and winter, golden-cheeked warblers occur mainly in montane pine or pine-oak associations (Vidal et al. 1994) but also in broadleaf associations in lower montane wet and tropical forest (Vannini, in Collar et al. 1992). In Honduras and Guatemala, the species occurs primarily above 1,300 meters in pine-oak forest; dominant pine species was ocote (Pinus oocarpa) and dominant oaks were "encino" oaks (Quercus sapotifolia, Q. eliptica, Q. elongata, and Q. cortesii) (Rappole et al. 1999).

Ecology

BREEDING: Territory size reportedly is about 4-8 ha (Kroll 1980) or 1.2-4.0 ha (1990, End. Sp. Tech. Bull. 15[6]:1). At Fort Hood, territories averaged 4.15 ha (Weinberg et al. 1996, cited in Ladd and Gass 1999); In Kendall County, territories were smaller, ranging from 1.27-2.44 hectares, mean 1.72 hectares (n=14; Pulich 1976, cited in Ladd and Gass 1999).

Dispersal distance for adult males (median year-to-year distance between territories) was estimated to be 141 meters (average 223 meters, range 0-3523 meters, n=74; Jette et al. 1998).

Of nine failed nests, 4 or 5 were depredated; rat snakes and Western Scrub-Jays are known to prey on young (Gass 1996).

NON-BREEDING: in Chiapas occurred almost exclusively in mixed-species flocks (Vidal et al. 1994). Species co-occurring most frequently in flocks were Wilson's Warbler (WILSONIA PUSILLA), Black-throated Green Warbler (DENDROICA VIRENS), Hermit Warbler (D. OCCIDENTALIS), Townsend's Warbler (D. TOWNSENDI), and Blue-headed Vireo (VIREO SOLITARIUS) (Rappole et al. 1999).

Reproduction

Eggs are laid mostly April-June (May-June nests evidently represent renesting after failed first tries). Clutch size is 3-5 (usually 4). Incubation, by female, lasts about 12 days. Young are tended by both parents, fledge in about 9 days, may accompant an adult for 30-40 days after fledging. Single-brooded. Nests usually in loose groups of fewer than 6 pairs (sometimes up to 21 pairs) (Pulich 1976). Deserts nest and renests if parasitized by cowbird; renestings tend to more more successful (see Morse 1989).
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - Mixed
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN2B
ProvinceRankNative
TexasS2BYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
1 - Residential & commercial developmentSmall (1-10%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areasSmall (1-10%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2 - Agriculture & aquacultureLarge (31-70%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2.1 - Annual & perennial non-timber cropsLarge (31-70%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2.3 - Livestock farming & ranchingLarge (31-70%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
3 - Energy production & miningSmall (1-10%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
3.2 - Mining & quarryingSmall (1-10%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
5 - Biological resource useLarge (31-70%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
5.3 - Logging & wood harvestingLarge (31-70%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
5.3.4 - Unintentional effects: large scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest]Large (31-70%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
11 - Climate change & severe weatherPervasive (71-100%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
11.3 - Temperature extremesPervasive (71-100%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (1)
Texas (1)
AreaForestAcres
Big CreekNational Forests in Texas1,447
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