Setophaga discolor
Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The prairie warbler (Setophaga discolor) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. The prairie warbler belongs to the genus Setophaga. The species was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in a work published in 1807 documenting North American birds, where he called the bird Sylvia discolor, although the genus designation Sylvia was not later retained. It was also previously assigned to the genus Dendroica before that genus was merged into Setophaga.
The vernacular name "prairie warbler" is attributed to the Scottish-American naturalist Alexander Wilson who saw the species in 1810 in prairie country in southwestern Kentucky. This name is arguably misleading, since the bird generally prefers shrubbery and small trees rather than true open prairie habitats.
The first, S. d. discolor, is the migratory form which breeds throughout the full range and spends winters in Florida and the West Indies. The second, S. d. paludicola, is the sedentary form which permanently inhabits the coasts of Florida. American zoologist Arthur H. Howell is credited with describing S. d. paludicola... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park | 🇯🇲 Jamaica | |
| 4 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 8 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 13 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 14 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 3 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 4 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Prairie Warbler sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 227 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 93rd most-seen of the 173 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Prairie Warbler in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to March, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Prairie 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.
5th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Prairie Warbler sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Ciénaga de Zapata (Cuba, about 30%), Everglades National Park (United States, about 30%) and Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica, about 30%).
Same genus: Setophaga
The closest relatives of the Prairie Warbler that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are Northern Parula (about 40%), Black-throated Green Warbler (about 30%) and Hooded Warbler (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Prairie Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (227 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.
