Teretistridae Cuban Warblers
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Introduction
This family contains two assertive yellow and gray warblers endemic to Cuba, the Yellowheaded and Oriente Warblers (Teretistris fernandinae and T. fornsi, respectively). Both are busy foragers, gleaning prey from thick undergrowth and down on the ground. During the breeding season their simple trilled songs, interspersed sometimes with wren-like chatterings, have the character of one of the drier, more insect-like songs of warblers. In the non-breeding season, these birds are usually encountered in flocks, often accompanied by other species as they move through the shrubbery looking for food.
Habitat
The two species of Teretistris live in terrestrial habitats with undisturbed understory, from scrub thickets in arid areas to more mesic forests, ranging from the coast to the hills.
Diet and Foraging
The Cuban warblers feed mainly on insects and other invertebrates, gleaning, and sometimes hover-gleaning, prey from mid to low levels in the forest, often working from shrubbery onto the ground to forage in the afternoons. Both species are known to take small lizards, as well as some fruit. Outside the breeding season, they are generally in flocks of a handful to 15 or so individuals, often serving as the nucleus for mixed-species flocks.
Breeding
Very little is known about the breeding behavior of this family; however, it is presumed that both species are monogamous with biparental care. Nests of the Teretistris species consist of simple cups constructed of Tillandsia leaves, rootlets, grasses, and other plants that are placed low in a shrub, often hidden in a clump of Tillandsia. Females lay 2 or 3 eggs. Little is known about sex roles in parental care, but incubation takes 8 to 9 days and the nestling period lasts 10 to 11 days.
Conservation Status
Neither Teretistris species faces any immediate conservation concerns.
Systematics History
Teretistridae is part of the New World nine-primaried oscine radiation within the superfamily Passeroidea. Along with Zeledoniidae, Teretistris had long been considered part of Parulidae, but recent studies have found that Teretistris is not included in the New World warbler radiation (Lovette et al. 2010). Relatively few molecular studies have included Teretistris in their samples, but the first study to do so (Klicka et al. 2007) found Teretistris to be sister to Spindalidae and the clade of these two together to be sister to a clade made up of Parulidae and Icteria together with Zeledonia. A more recent, more detailed study found Teretistridae to be sister to Zeledoniidae, with this clade of two in turn sister to Parulidae and Icteridae (Barker et al. 2013).
Conservation Status
Least Concern |
100%
|
---|---|
Near Threatened |
0%
|
Vulnerable |
0%
|
Endangered |
0%
|
Critically Endangered |
0%
|
Extinct in the Wild |
0%
|
Extinct |
0%
|
Not Evaluated |
0%
|
Data Deficient |
0%
|
Unknown |
0%
|
Data provided by IUCN (2023) Red List. More information