The yellow-breasted chat is a fair-weather visitor to our valley. This most " unwarbler-like" warbler is often heard rather than seen but is quite a sight when it does show itself. Very large for a warbler, it has rounded wings, a thick bill, a long rounded tail, a bright yellow (sometimes almost orange) breast that sets off its plain olive upperside, and it checks you out through bold white "spectacles." Despite these characteristics that are more like a tanager, DNA results link the chat to the wood warblers.

This versatile songster is also unique among warblers as he sings more like a mockingbird or a thrasher and has been known to keep residents along Eagle Creek up a good share of the night with its sometimes harsh song as it whistles, rattles, squeaks, scolds, or mews.

Preferring dense thickets and brushy edges, often near moist areas, look for the yellow-breasted chat along the edge of Icicle Creek near the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery, up Eagle Creek, or in canyons with dense brush where it can hide and collect insects and berries.