Birdfinding.info ⇒  The most reliable sites for this scarce and localized Hispaniolan endemic are Zapotén and Los Arroyos in the Sierra de Bahoruco.  It can sometimes be found at Cachote and Alcoa Road, and rarely in the Cordillera Central at sites such as Ébano Verde and El Valle National Park.  In Haiti, it is rare at La Visite National Park, but reportedly fairly common in Pic Macaya Biosphere Reserve.

White-winged Warbler

Xenoligea montana

Endemic to Hispaniola, where it occurs mainly in wet montane deciduous forests of the Cordillera Central, Sierra de Neiba, Sierra de Bahoruco, Massif de la Selle, and Massif de la Hotte.

Uncommon and declining across most of its range.  Remains numerous in the Sierra de Bahoruco and possibly the Massif de la Hotte.

Identification

A long-tailed, warbler-type bird that resembles the related Green-tailed Warbler—which occurs throughout most of its range.  Both have bright olive backs and gray heads.  White-winged is recognized by its clean white underparts, white lores, dark eyes, white-cornered black tail, and large white patch in primaries.

White-winged Warbler.  (Los Arroyos, Dominican Republic; May 31, 2015.)  © Dax M. Román E.

White-winged Warbler.  (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; April 9, 2016.)  © Rafael V. Arvelo C.

White-winged Warbler.  (Los Arroyos, Dominican Republic; November 29, 2013.)  © Dax M. Román E.

White-winged Warbler.  (Zapotén, Dominican Republic; March 19, 2012.)  © Ian Davies

White-winged Warbler.  (Zapotén, Dominican Republic; March 6, 2015.)  © John Sullivan

White-winged Warbler.  (Los Arroyos, Dominican Republic; May 31, 2015.)  © Dax M. Román E.

White-winged Warbler.  (Zapotén, Dominican Republic; April 6, 2017.)  © Mark van Beirs

White-winged Warbler.  (Zapotén, Dominican Republic; March 19, 2012.)  © Ian Davies

White-winged Warbler.  (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; April 9, 2016.)  © Rafael V. Arvelo C.

White-winged Warbler.  (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; January 29, 2014.)  © Dubi Shapiro

White-winged Warbler.  (Los Arroyos, Dominican Republic; November 29, 2013.)  © Dax M. Román E.

White-winged Warbler.  (Los Arroyos, Dominican Republic; November 29, 2013.)  © Dax M. Román E.

White-winged Warbler.  (Dominican Republic; August 31, 2013.)  © Dax M. Román E.

Voice.  Common call is a sharp, emphatic tsit!, repeated often:

Notes

Monotypic species.  Also called Hispaniolan Highland-Tanager.

IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable.

References

Alas & Colores: White-Winged Warbler (Xenoligea montana), https://alasycolores.com.do/en/aves/ciguita-aliblanca.

BirdLife International. 2012. Xenoligea montana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T22722076A84740504. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015.RLTS.T22722076A84740504.en. (Accessed September 20, 2016.)

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.