Hooded Warbler

Hooded Warbler

Setophaga citrina

Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%

749 Verified sightings at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve From 2019 to 2026
8,930 In all 41 parks
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Hooded Warbler

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 →

Sounds

Song0:17

United States · 2025

© Molly Jacobson · XC996861 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call1:13

United States · 2022

© Richard E. Webster · XC780541 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Begging call0:17

United States · 2018

© Matt Wistrand · XC425081 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tikal National Park 🇬🇹 Guatemala
~40%
2 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~30%
3 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇧🇿 Belize
~30%
4 Calakmul Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~30%
5 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
6 Pico Bonito National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~30%
7 Biotopo Cerro Cahuí 🇬🇹 Guatemala
~30%
8 Congaree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
9 Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~20%
10 Cusuco National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~20%
11 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
12 Lago de Yojoa 🇭🇳 Honduras
~20%
13 Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
14 Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
15 Cañón del Sumidero National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
16 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
17 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
18 Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
19 La Tigra National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
20 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
21 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
22 Padre Island National Seashore 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
23 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
24 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
25 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
26 Ciénaga de Zapata 🇨🇺 Cuba
<5%
27 Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park 🇯🇲 Jamaica
<5%
28 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
29 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
30 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
31 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
32 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
33 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
34 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
35 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
36 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
37 Los Quetzales National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
38 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
39 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
40 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
41 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 San Pedro Sula 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
2 Havana 🇨🇺 Cuba
~10%
3 Houston 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
5 Montreal 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
6 New York City 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
7 Guatemala City 🇬🇹 Guatemala
<5%
8 Orlando 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 Guadalajara 🇲🇽 México
<5%
10 Baltimore 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Disney's Animal Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Woodland Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Hooded Warbler in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve?

Possible

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Hooded Warbler sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 749 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 40th most-seen of the 288 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Hooded Warbler in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve?

January

In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Hooded Warbler in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in May to July, the lowest months. That is one of Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain against 230 mm in June.

What time of day is best to see a Hooded Warbler?

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.

Is Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve the best place to see a Hooded Warbler?

2nd of 41

Of the 41 parks where we can rate Hooded Warbler sightings, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Tikal National Park (Guatemala, about 40%).

Which relatives of the Hooded Warbler live in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve?

Same genus: Setophaga

The closest relatives of the Hooded Warbler that you can see in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are American Redstart (about 40%), Yellow Warbler (about 40%) and Magnolia Warbler (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Hooded Warbler sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Hooded Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (749 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.

← Back to Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve