Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellow-breasted Chat has fallen sharply: down 54% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Yellow-breasted Chat
The Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) is a North American member of the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteriidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the forest birds.
- Size
- about 7 in long (18 cm) — a large warbler-like songbird (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Woodlands and forest edges, including wooded suburbs and parks.
- Diet
- Insects and spiders gleaned from foliage and bark, with seeds and berries in season.
- Range
- Recorded on 2,327 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 44 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Icteriidae · Forest birds
Notable Yellow-breasted Chat Trends
Yellow-breasted Chat has fallen sharply in surveyed states: down 54% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
Yellow-breasted Chat Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Yellow-breasted Chat is projected to fall about 10% by 2029 — from 2.7 in 2024 to a central estimate of 2.4 (95% range 1.0–3.7). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±11.7%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 3.8 |
| 2026 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 3.8 |
| 2027 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 3.8 |
| 2028 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 3.8 |
| 2029 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
Where the Yellow-breasted Chat Is Detected
BBS routes recording Yellow-breasted Chat, sized by most recent count.
Yellow-breasted Chat Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -38% | 1968 | 107 |
| Arizona | +13% | 1970 | 34 |
| Arkansas | -15% | 1969 | 61 |
| California | -3% | 1970 | 109 |
| Colorado | +3% | 1971 | 54 |
| Connecticut | insufficient data | n/a | 4 |
| Delaware | -23% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | +118% | 1968 | 45 |
| Georgia | -55% | 1968 | 108 |
| Idaho | +600% | 1970 | 27 |
| Illinois | +179% | 1968 | 84 |
| Indiana | -61% | 1968 | 63 |
| Iowa | +377% | 1969 | 10 |
| Kansas | +610% | 1969 | 33 |
| Kentucky | -56% | 1968 | 64 |
| Louisiana | +93% | 1969 | 88 |
| Maryland | -84% | 1968 | 76 |
| Massachusetts | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Michigan | -79% | 1968 | 20 |
| Minnesota | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Mississippi | +47% | 1968 | 73 |
| Missouri | +27% | 1969 | 89 |
| Montana | -20% | 1970 | 52 |
| Nebraska | +573% | 1972 | 22 |
| Nevada | +785% | 1971 | 24 |
| New Jersey | -88% | 1968 | 26 |
| New Mexico | +965% | 1977 | 39 |
| New York | -54% | 1968 | 28 |
| North Carolina | -20% | 1968 | 106 |
| North Dakota | -76% | 1969 | 20 |
| Ohio | -69% | 1968 | 82 |
| Oklahoma | +98% | 1969 | 38 |
| Oregon | -13% | 1970 | 64 |
| Pennsylvania | -95% | 1968 | 103 |
| South Carolina | -47% | 1968 | 50 |
| South Dakota | +595% | 1969 | 25 |
| Tennessee | -45% | 1968 | 54 |
| Texas | +81% | 1969 | 130 |
| Utah | +824% | 1972 | 54 |
| Virginia | -56% | 1968 | 82 |
| Washington | +16% | 1970 | 46 |
| West Virginia | -93% | 1968 | 59 |
| Wisconsin | -32% | 1971 | 10 |
| Wyoming | +5% | 1971 | 45 |
Yellow-breasted Chat Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Northern Pacific Rainforest | -47% | 1970 | 66 |
| Great Basin | +186% | 1970 | 106 |
| Northern Rockies | +83% | 1970 | 80 |
| Prairie Potholes | -76% | 1969 | 17 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | -94% | 1968 | 36 |
| Sierra Nevada | +137% | 1979 | 13 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | +366% | 1970 | 102 |
| Badlands and Prairies | +81% | 1969 | 82 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | +371% | 1981 | 33 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | +561% | 1970 | 33 |
| Edwards Plateau | 17× | 1970 | 18 |
| Oaks and Prairies | -50% | 1969 | 37 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | +22% | 1968 | 207 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | -49% | 1968 | 48 |
| Central Hardwoods | -57% | 1968 | 166 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | +52% | 1969 | 110 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | -37% | 1968 | 66 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -2% | 1968 | 331 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -84% | 1968 | 334 |
| Piedmont | -51% | 1968 | 160 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | -65% | 1968 | 95 |
| Peninsular Florida | -60% | 1977 | 8 |
| Coastal California | +84% | 1970 | 50 |
| Sonoran and Mojave Deserts | +182% | 1973 | 27 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | -35% | 1970 | 23 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | +706% | 1969 | 39 |
| Tamaulipan Brushlands | +169% | 1975 | 13 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | +107% | 1969 | 25 |
Yellow-breasted Chat Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it down about 54% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.