Birdfinding.info ⇒ Common in the western D.R. but mostly absent from the east, it is easy to find at several of the frequently visited southwestern sites such as the Rabo de Gato Trail, Zapotén, and Alcoa Road, and in the Cordillera Central at Ébano Verde and El Valle National Park. Scarce along the southeast coast in scrub and dry forest around La Romana and Del Este National Park. In Haiti, easily found at La Visite National Park.
Green-tailed Warbler
Microligea palustris
Endemic to Hispaniola, Isla Beata, and Isla Saona, where it occurs in various brushy habitats, both wet and dry, over a wide range of elevations, from arid lowland scrub to montane forests.
Found mainly in the western half of the Dominican Republic and border areas of Haiti: throughout most of the Cordillera Central, Sierra de Neiba, Sierra de Bahoruco, Massif de la Selle, and adjacent lowlands south to Jaragua National Park and Isla Beata.
Also occurs locally or sporadically across northern Haiti west to Bombardopolis, and separately in semiarid lowlands of the southeastern D.R. from San Pedro de Macorís to Del Este National Park and Isla Saona.
Identification
A long-tailed, warbler-type bird that resembles the related White-winged Warbler—which occurs with it in mountain forests. Both have bright olive backs and gray heads. Green-tailed is recognized by its gray underparts, all-green tail and wings, plain lores, and red irises.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Jaragua National Park, Dominican Republic; October 12, 2016.) © Dax M. Román E.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; February 23, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Green-tailed Warbler, with its red eyes well illuminated. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; January 19, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Los Arroyos, Dominican Republic; September 1, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Zapotén, Dominican Republic; April 9, 2019.) © Volker Hesse
Green-tailed Warbler. (Jaragua National Park, Dominican Republic; October 12, 2016.) © Dax M. Román E.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; February 23, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Puerto Alejandro, Barahona, Dominican Republic; October 9, 2004.) © Miguel A. Landestoy T.
Green-tailed Warbler. (La Visite National Park, Haiti; April 14, 2014.) © Jean-Sébastien Guénette
Green-tailed Warbler. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic.) © Dax M. Román E.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Zapotén, Dominican Republic; March 6, 2015.) © John Sullivan
Green-tailed Warbler. (Puerto Alejandro, Barahona, Dominican Republic; October 9, 2004.) © Miguel A. Landestoy T.
Green-tailed Warbler. (Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic; February 17, 2016.) © Dušan M. Brinkhuizen
Green-tailed Warbler. (Dominican Republic; May 1, 2016.) © Carlos Gomez
Green-tailed Warbler. (Zapotén, Dominican Republic; March 29, 2017.) © Frédéric Pelsy
Green-tailed Warbler. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; March 18, 2012.) © Ian Davies
Green-tailed Warbler. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; March 18, 2012.) © Ian Davies
Green-tailed Warbler, in flight. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; January 21, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of two recognized subspecies: palustris and vasta (of Isla Beata and the adjacent lowlands of the Barahona Peninsula). Has also been called Green-tailed Ground-Warbler or Ground-Tanager.
References
Alas & Colores: Green-Tailed Warbler (Microligea palustris), https://alasycolores.com.do/en/aves/ciguita-coliverde.
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed June 9, 2019.)
Latta, S., C. Rimmer, A. Keith, J. Wiley, H. Raffaele, K. McFarland, and E. Fernandez. 2006. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.