Status and Conservation
To humans, these birds are quite beneficial. For one thing, in particular the young devour many pest insects during the breeding season. For another, the plumage and song of the breeding males have been described as "lovely" and "musical", and they can help to generate revenue from ecotourism. Adult Yellow Warblers are significant dispersers of plants via the ingested seeds, though this may of course spread any invasive weed whose fruits they find tasty. No significant negative effects of Yellow and Mangrove Warblers on humans have been recorded though.
These birds are generally common and occur over a wide range; consequently, the IUCN does not consider them a threatened species. A local decline in numbers has been noted here and there. This is generally due to habitat destruction and pollution, mainly by land clearance and herbicide and pesticide overuse of agriculture, and sometimes overgrazing. However, especially Yellow Warblers are prolific, and the stocks will usually rebound quickly if riparian habitat is allowed to recover.
The North American populations are legally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Barbados Golden Warbler (D. p. petechia) is listed as "Endangered Foreign Wildlife" by the United States' Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 1970; other than for scientific, educational or conservation purposes (for which a permit may be available) importing it into the USA is illegal. The Californian Yellow Warbler (D. p./a. brewsteri) and Sonoran Yellow Warbler (D.p./a. sonorana) are listed as "Species of Concern" by the ESA.
The Yellow Warbler is sometimes colloquially called the "Summer Yellowbird".
Read more about this topic: Yellow Warbler
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