The Yellow-breasted Chat is an oddball — long considered the largest and strangest of the wood-warblers, and now placed in its own family, it is far bigger than any true warbler, with a bright yellow throat and breast, an olive back, bold white "spectacles," and a heavy, almost tanager-like bill. But its most remarkable feature is its voice: an extraordinary, seemingly improvised medley of whistles, clucks, cackles, rattles, and mews, often delivered from deep in a thicket or in a comical, floppy-winged display flight, sometimes even at night.
A skulking bird of dense, brushy habitat, the Yellow-breasted Chat hides in thickets, shrubby old fields, and tangled edges, and is far more often heard than seen. It occurs in Michigan as a rare and local breeder at the northern edge of its range, mostly from late spring through summer, and its numbers have declined with the loss of the dense shrubland it needs. Tracking down the source of that bizarre, laughing jumble of sounds and glimpsing the yellow-breasted singer is a memorable challenge for the state's birders.
Feeds on insects and other invertebrates gleaned from dense vegetation, along with berries and fruit, especially in late summer and fall. It forages within thickets and shrubby cover, taking a mix of animal and plant food close to the ground.
It was long classified as the largest and most atypical wood-warbler, but it is now placed in its own family. It is much bigger and heavier-billed than true warblers and behaves quite differently.
That extraordinary medley of whistles, clucks, cackles, rattles, and mews — sometimes given in a floppy display flight or even at night — is the Yellow-breasted Chat. Its strange, seemingly improvised song is unmistakable once learned.
As a rare and local breeder at the northern edge of its range, mostly late spring through summer, in dense brushy thickets, shrubby old fields, and tangled edges. It has declined with the loss of such shrubland.
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