Cape May Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Setophaga tigrina

Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Miami

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%

3,980 Verified sightings at Miami
10,453 In all 30 parks From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Cape May Warbler

The Cape May warbler (Setophaga tigrina) is a species of New World warbler. It breeds in northern North America. Its breeding range spans all but the westernmost parts of southern Canada, the Great Lakes region, and New England. It is migratory, wintering in the West Indies. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, with two records in Britain as of October 2013. The English name refers to Cape May, New Jersey, where George Ord collected the specimen that was later described by Alexander Wilson.

The Cape May warbler was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Motacilla and coined the binomial name Motacilla tigrina. The specific epithet is from Latin tigrinus meaning "tigrine" or "barred or striped like a tiger". Gmelin based his account on "The yellow spotted fly-catcher" that had been described by the English naturalist George Edwards in 1758, and "Le figuier brun de Canada" that had been described by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The Cape May warbler is now one of more than 30 species placed in the genus... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call1:09

Cuba · 2025

© FREDERIC Lionel · XC995966 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Nocturnal flight call0:07

Canada · 2023

© David Tattersley · XC809944 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:25

United States · 2022

© David A. Brinkman · XC726842 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~40%
2 Ciénaga de Zapata 🇨🇺 Cuba
~40%
3 Los Haitises National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~30%
4 Isle Royale National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
5 Jaragua National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~20%
6 Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
7 Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park 🇯🇲 Jamaica
~10%
8 Riding Mountain National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
9 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
10 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
11 Gros Morne National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
12 Voyageurs National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
13 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
14 Cape Breton Highlands National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
15 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
16 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
17 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
18 Big Cypress National Preserve 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
19 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
20 Congaree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
21 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
22 Jasper National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
23 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
24 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
25 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
26 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
27 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
28 Los Quetzales National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
29 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
30 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Santo Domingo 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~30%
2 Managua 🇳🇮 Nicaragua
~10%
3 Miami 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Havana 🇨🇺 Cuba
~10%
5 Chicago 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
6 Toronto 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
7 Orlando 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Baltimore 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 New York City 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Montreal 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden 🇺🇸 United States In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Cape May Warbler in Miami?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cape May Warbler sighting in Miami on a given day, based on 3,980 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 65th most-seen of the 325 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Cape May Warbler in Miami?

October

In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Cape May Warbler in Miami on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and December–March, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Cape May Warbler?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape May 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.

Is Miami the best place to see a Cape May Warbler?

3rd of 25

Of the 25 cities where we can rate Cape May Warbler sightings, Miami ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic, about 30%) and Managua (Nicaragua, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Cape May Warbler live in Miami?

Same genus: Setophaga

The closest relatives of the Cape May Warbler that you can see in Miami (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are Palm Warbler (about 50%), Northern Parula (about 30%) and Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Cape May Warbler sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Cape May Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Miami (3,980 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.

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