• Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

• Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

• Birds (Class Aves)

• Perching Birds (Order Passeriformes)

• Yellow-breasted Chats (Family Icteriidae)

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The family Icteriidae is one of the smallest bird families in the world, containing only a single living species, the Yellow-breasted Chat. For many years, the Yellow-breasted Chat was classified with the wood-warblers (Parulidae), but genetic and anatomical studies revealed that it is sufficiently distinct to warrant placement in its own family. The Yellow-breasted Chat is the largest of the North American warbler-like birds, characterized by its bright yellow throat and breast, olive-green upperparts, white spectacles, and robust bill. It inhabits dense thickets, shrubby edges, overgrown fields, riparian woodlands, and brushy habitats across much of North America during the breeding season, migrating to Mexico and Central America for the winter.