Setophaga townsendi
Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
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 →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Townsend's Warbler sighting in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park on a given day, based on 186 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 84th most-seen of the 275 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Townsend's Warbler in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September, the lowest months. That is one of Cumbres de Monterrey National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 180 mm in September.
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.
11th of 42
Of the 42 parks where we can rate Townsend's Warbler sightings, Cumbres de Monterrey National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca (Mexico, about 50%), El Triunfo (Mexico, about 40%) and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (Canada, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Setophaga
The closest relatives of the Townsend's Warbler that you can see in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are Tropical Parula (about 30%), Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 30%) and Black-throated Green Warbler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Townsend's Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park (186 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.
