Vermivora chrysoptera
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is a small migratory insectivorous bird in the New World warbler family Parulidae. It breeds in southeastern and south-central Canada and in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeastern to north-central United States. The majority (~70%) of the global population breeds in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Manitoba. Golden-winged warbler populations are slowly expanding northwards but are generally declining across its range. This is most likely as a result of habitat loss and competition/interbreeding with the very closely related blue-winged warbler, Vermivora cyanoptera, albeit the latter point has been debated. Populations are now restricted to two regions: the Great Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains.
The golden-winged warbler was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla chrysoptera. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek χρυσοπτερος/khrusopteros meaning "golden-winged", from χρυσος/khrusos meaning "gold" and -πτερος/-pteros meaning "-winged". Linnaeus based his entry on "The golden-winged fly-catcher" that had... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 8 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Golden-winged Warbler sighting in San Antonio on a given day, based on 54 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 162nd most-seen of the 255 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Golden-winged Warbler in San Antonio on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months. That is one of San Antonio's wettest months, with about 100 mm of rain against 35 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Golden-winged 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.
Among the best
Of the 18 cities where we can rate Golden-winged Warbler sightings, San Antonio ranks 9th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in San Diego (United States, under 5%), Chicago (United States, under 5%) and Minneapolis [Saint Paul] (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Golden-winged Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in San Antonio (54 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.
