Townsend's Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Setophaga townsendi

Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Salt Lake City

In 3 days <5%

9 Verified sightings at Salt Lake City
8,430 In all 42 parks From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Townsend's Warbler

Townsend's warbler (Setophaga townsendi) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. Townsend's warbler was formally described in 1837 by the American naturalist John Kirk Townsend under the binomial name Sylvia townsendi. The type locality is Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River in the state of Washington. After the merger of the genera Dendroica and Setophaga, Townsend's warbler is now placed in the genus Setophaga that was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

Townsend's warbler has a yellow face with a black stripe across its cheeks extending into an ear patch, a thin pointed bill, two white wing bars, olive upperparts with black streaks on their backs and flanks, and a white belly. Adult males have a black cap, black throat and yellow lower breast; females have a dark cap and a yellow throat. Immature birds are similar to females with a dark green cap and cheeks.

Their breeding habitats are coniferous forests with large trees on the northwestern coast of North America. Their nests are shallow cups built with grass and lined with moss. These... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:22

Mexico · 2025

© Bobby Wilcox · XC1035703 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:11

Canada · 2003

© Simon Elliott · XC597954 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:29

United States · 2022

© Sam Smith · XC707449 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca 🇲🇽 Mexico
~50%
2 El Triunfo 🇲🇽 Mexico
~40%
3 Pacific Rim National Park Reserve 🇨🇦 Canada
~30%
4 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~30%
5 Glacier National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
6 Great Bear Rainforest 🇨🇦 Canada
~20%
7 Celaque National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
8 La Tigra National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
9 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
10 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
11 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
12 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
13 Guadalupe Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
14 Kenai Fjords National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
15 Redwood National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
16 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
17 Jasper National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
18 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
19 Irazú Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
20 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
21 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
22 Los Quetzales National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
23 Chirripó National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
24 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
25 Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
26 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
27 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
28 Denali National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
29 Bahía de Loreto National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
30 Poás Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
31 Cañón del Sumidero National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
32 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
33 Grand Teton National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
34 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
35 Volcán Barú National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
36 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
37 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
38 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
39 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
40 Yellowstone National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
41 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
42 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Toluca 🇲🇽 México
~40%
2 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
3 Tijuana 🇲🇽 México
~20%
4 Mexico City 🇲🇽 México
~20%
5 Guatemala City 🇬🇹 Guatemala
~10%
6 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 San Diego 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Portland 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
9 Guadalajara 🇲🇽 México
~10%
10 Puebla 🇲🇽 México
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Townsend's Warbler in Salt Lake City?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Townsend's Warbler sighting in Salt Lake City on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 192nd most-seen of the 216 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Townsend's Warbler in Salt Lake City?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Townsend's Warbler in Salt Lake City on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Townsend's Warbler?

Between 1 and 4 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Townsend's 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 Salt Lake City the best place to see a Townsend's Warbler?

26th of 28

Of the 28 cities where we can rate Townsend's Warbler sightings, Salt Lake City ranks 26th at under 5%. The best odds are in Toluca (México, about 40%), San Francisco (United States, about 20%) and Tijuana (México, about 20%).

Which relatives of the Townsend's Warbler live in Salt Lake City?

Same genus: Setophaga

The closest relatives of the Townsend's Warbler that you can see in Salt Lake City (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 30%), Yellow Warbler (about 20%) and Northern Yellow Warbler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Townsend's Warbler sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Townsend's Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Salt Lake City (9 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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