Setophaga americana
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The northern parula (Setophaga americana) is a small New World warbler. It is migratory and breeds in eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida. The northern parula was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the tits in the genus Parus and coined the binomial name Parus americanus. Linnaeus based his account on "The Finch-Creeper" that had been described and illustrated in 1731 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Linnaeus specified the type locality as northern America, but in 1931 this was restricted to South Carolina by the American Ornithologists' Union. The northern parula was moved from the genus Parus to the genus Setophaga based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the Parulidae that was published in 2010. The species is considered to be monotypic, with no subspecies recognized. Northern parulas will occasionally hybridize with yellow-throated warblers, resulting in a hybrid species known as Sutton's warblers.
The genus name Setophaga is from Ancient Greek ses, "moth", and phagos,... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 3 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 5 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Parula sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 1,369 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 83rd most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Parula in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in November to January, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Parula sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
17th of 39
Of the 39 parks where we can rate Northern Parula sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 17th at about 10%. The best odds are in Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica, about 60%), Ciénaga de Zapata (Cuba, about 50%) and Congaree National Park (United States, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Setophaga
The closest relatives of the Northern Parula 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 Yellow Warbler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Parula is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (1,369 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.
