Setophaga citrina
Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina) is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies. Hooded warblers are very rare vagrants to western Europe.
Recent genetic research has suggested that the type species of Wilsonia (hooded warbler W. citrina) and of Setophaga (American redstart S. ruticilla) are closely related and should be merged into the same genus. As the name Setophaga (published in 1827) takes priority over Wilsonia (published in 1838), hooded warbler would then be transferred as Setophaga citrina. This change has been accepted by the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union, and the IOC World Bird List. The South American Classification Committee continues to list the bird in the genus Wilsonia.
The French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon described the hooded warbler in 1779 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Louisiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 3 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Tegucigalpa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 5 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 8 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Hooded Warbler sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 34 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 217th most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Hooded Warbler in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hooded 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.
31st of 41
Of the 41 parks where we can rate Hooded Warbler sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 31st at under 5%. The best odds are in Tikal National Park (Guatemala, about 40%), Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 30%) and Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 30%).
Same genus: Setophaga
The closest relatives of the Hooded 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 Hooded Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (34 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.
