Mniotilta varia
Silhouette: Jason Dilworth · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia) is a species of New World warbler, and the only member of its genus, Mniotilta. It breeds in northern and eastern North America and winters in Florida, Central America, and the West Indies down to Peru. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Northern Europe, especially Britain and Ireland. Relative to other New World warblers, it is not well studied.
The black-and-white warbler was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla varia. The specific epithet is from Latin varius meaning "various", "diverse" or "variegated". Linnaeus based his entry of the "small black and white bird" that had been described by the Irish physician Hans Sloane in 1725 and "Le Figuier varié de S. Domingue" that had been described by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in 1760. Linnaeus specified the location as Jamaica and Dominica but this was restricted to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1910. The black-and-white warbler is now the only species placed in the genus Mniotilta that was introduced by... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 2 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 4 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-and-white Warbler sighting in Soberanía National Park on a given day, based on 390 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 244th most-seen of the 449 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and August–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-and-white Warbler in Soberanía National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–July and November–February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-and-white Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
59th of 77
Of the 77 parks where we can rate Black-and-white Warbler sightings, Soberanía National Park ranks 59th at under 5%. The best odds are in Gros Morne National Park (Canada, about 60%), Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica, about 60%) and Tikal National Park (Guatemala, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Parulidae
The closest relatives of the Black-and-white Warbler that you can see in Soberanía National Park (family Parulidae, New World Warblers) are Bay-breasted Warbler (about 30%), Yellow Warbler (about 30%) and Northern Waterthrush (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-and-white Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Soberanía National Park (390 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.
