Protonotaria citrea
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. It is named for its plumage, which resembles the yellow robes once worn by papal clerks (named prothonotaries) in the Roman Catholic Church.
The prothonotary warbler is the only member of the genus Protonotaria and the only eastern warbler that nests in natural or artificial cavities. These warblers often move with quick, jerky, movements and will even crawl upside down on sticks or trees. During the spring they are often seen in wetlands gathering nesting material, or food, for their mate.
The prothonotary warbler was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1779 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Louisiana. Buffon coined the French name Le figuier protonotaire. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle, which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 4 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 5 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 8 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Como Park Zoo and Conservatory | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Como Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Prothonotary Warbler sighting in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, based on 54 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 126th most-seen of the 177 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Prothonotary Warbler in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, against under 5% in December to August, the lowest months. That is one of Ciénaga de Zapata's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain against 15 mm in February. September has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Prothonotary Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
24th of 47
Of the 47 parks where we can rate Prothonotary Warbler sightings, Ciénaga de Zapata ranks 24th at under 5%. The best odds are in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 40%), Point Pelee National Park (Canada, about 40%) and Utría National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Parulidae
The closest relatives of the Prothonotary Warbler that you can see in Ciénaga de Zapata (family Parulidae, New World Warblers) are American Redstart (about 60%), Palm Warbler (about 60%) and Common Yellowthroat (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Prothonotary Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Ciénaga de Zapata (54 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
