Black-polled Yellowthroat Geothlypis speciosa

Black-polled Yellowthroat is known from just four areas in central Mexico, in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán and México. Due to its small range and suspicions that its population has declined dramatically, the species is listed as globally Endangered by BirdLife International. Black-polled Yellowthroat apparently is restricted to extensive marshes, and is seemingly unable to persist in degraded habitats. Its plumage is broadly similar to that of most congeners. The male has brownish olive upperparts and a black mask, sometimes with a grayish wash to the sides of the crown and nape, and deep yellow underparts, washed orange over the chest and ochraceous on flanks. In contrast, the female lacks a face mask but does have a pale eye-ring and pale buff supercilium. The natural history of Black-polled Yellowthroat presumably similar to that of other yellowthroats, but there is almost no information on the biology of this rare Mexican endemic.