Setophaga aestiva
Silhouette: Dylan GE Gomes · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The American yellow warbler (Setophaga aestiva), also known as the northern yellow warbler, is a New World warbler. It is a widespread migratory species in the diverse genus Setophaga, that breeds in most parts of North America. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the non-migratory mangrove warbler (Setophaga petechia).
The American yellow warbler was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He mainly based his account on a hand-coloured engraving of the "Figuier de Canada" by François-Nicolas Martinet. Gmelin placed the warbler in the genus Motacilla and coined the binomial name Motacilla aestiva. In 1957 the type locality was restricted to Quebec in Canada. The specific epithet aestiva is from Latin aestivus meaning "summery", from aestas, aestatis meaning "summer". The American yellow warbler is now one of the 35 species in the genus Setophaga. The genus name Setophaga combines the Ancient Greek σης/sēs, σητος/sētos meaning "moth" with -φαγος/-phagos meaning "-eating".
The American yellow warbler was formerly considered to be conspecific with... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 2 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 3 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 5 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Tegucigalpa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 9 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Moody Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Como Park Zoo and Conservatory | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Como Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Montreal Biodome | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Yellow Warbler sighting in Zion National Park on a given day, based on 84 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 183 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.
May and June
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Yellow Warbler in Zion National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to March, the lowest months. Those are among Zion National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 75 mm in March.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Yellow Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 41
Of the 41 parks where we can rate Northern Yellow Warbler sightings, Zion National Park ranks 4th at about 30%. The best odds are in Point Pelee National Park (Canada, about 60%), Gros Morne National Park (Canada, about 40%) and Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Setophaga
The closest relatives of the Northern Yellow Warbler that you can see in Zion National Park (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are Yellow Warbler (about 40%), Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 30%) and Black-throated Gray Warbler (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Yellow Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Zion National Park (84 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.
