Setophaga caerulescens
Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The black-throated blue warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family. Its breeding ranges are located in the interior of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests in eastern North America. Over the cooler months, it migrates to islands in the Caribbean and Central America. It is very rarely found in western Europe, where it is considered to be a non-indigenous species. The black-throated blue warbler is sexually dimorphic; the adult male has a black face and cheeks, deep blue upperparts and white underparts, while the adult female is olive-brown above and light yellow below.
Predominantly insectivorous, the black-throated blue warbler supplements its diet with berries and seeds in winter. It builds its nests in thick shrubs and the closeness of its nesting sites to the ground make it a favored species for the study of warbler behavior in the wild. The black-throated blue warbler defends its territory against other birds of the same species for both nesting and winter habitats. As the black-throated blue warbler requires large, unbroken forest areas for nesting, its numbers are declining.
The black-throated blue warbler was formally... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park | 🇯🇲 Jamaica | |
| 2 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 3 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Los Haitises National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 6 | Jaragua National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 7 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 15 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 18 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 19 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 4 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-throated Blue Warbler sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 214 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 155th most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-throated Blue Warbler in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in November to August, the lowest months. Those are among Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain a month against 50 mm in March.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-throated Blue 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.
13th of 19
Of the 19 parks where we can rate Black-throated Blue Warbler sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica, about 70%), Ciénaga de Zapata (Cuba, about 50%) and Point Pelee National Park (Canada, about 40%).
Same genus: Setophaga
The closest relatives of the Black-throated Blue Warbler that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 40%), Palm Warbler (about 40%) and Northern Parula (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-throated Blue Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (214 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.
