Olive Warbler

Overview

Olive Warbler: Medium warbler, gray back, rump, and uppertail coverts, and white belly and undertail coverts. Head, throat, nape and upper breast are orange-brown; mask is black. Wings are black, two broad white bars. Tail is notched and dark gray with white edges. Black legs, feet.

Range and Habitat

Olive Warbler: Breeds in central and southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico; spends winters mainly south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

INTERESTING FACTS

Although the Olive Warbler has long been associated with the New World wood-warblers, evidence from anatomical and DNA studies has recently placed it in its own family, Peucedramidae.
It has been properly associated with the species name taeniatus only since 1948. Older literature refers to it as Dendroica olivacea or Peucedramus olivaceus.
Recent genetic evidence shows a close relationship with Old World accentors. It appears to be a relict of a New World expansion of the accentors, left behind after the last Ice Age.
A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including "a bouquet of warblers", "a confusion of warblers", and a "wrench of warblers."