Geothlypis philadelphia
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The mourning warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. Mourning warblers are neotropical migrants native to eastern and central North America and wintering in Central and South America. They tend to be found in dense second growth forests. They are very similar to the MacGillivray's warbler in appearance, especially in females and immature birds, but their breeding range does not overlap into the west.
The "mourning" in this bird's name refers to the male's hood, thought to resemble a mourning veil. Mourning warblers are small songbird with yellow underparts, olive-green upperparts, a thin pointed bill and pink legs. Adult males have a gray hood, black lores and a black patch on the throat and breast. In the fall, this pattern becomes less bright and harder to distinguish from similar species; however they never have a broken eye ring. Females and immatures are gray-brown on the head with an incomplete eye-ring. They have a yellow-gray throat with a brown or olive tint to their breast. Both sexes can range from 10 to 15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) in length and 11–13 g (0.4–0.5 oz) in weight. Their wingspan is 18 cm (7.1 in). Other... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mourning Warbler sighting in Chicago on a given day, based on 1,570 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 134th most-seen of the 314 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.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mourning Warbler in Chicago on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months. That is one of Chicago's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain against 50 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mourning Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 22
Of the 22 cities where we can rate Mourning Warbler sightings, Chicago ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Medellín (Colombia, about 10%), San Antonio (United States, under 5%) and Bogota (Colombia, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mourning Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Chicago (1,570 verified sightings), 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.
