A medium-sized (5 ½ inches) wood warbler, the male Hooded Warbler is most easily identified by its olive-green back, yellow breast and face, and black head and throat connected by solid black neck stripes. Female Hooded Warblers are similar to males, but lack much of the black on the head and throat. The male Hooded Warbler may be distinguished from the similarly-colored Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) by that species’ yellow throat, whereas the female Hooded Warbler may be distinguished from the female Wilson’s Warbler by that species’ lighter head and pale yellow eye-stripes. The Hooded Warbler breeds across much of the eastern United States and extreme southern Canada. Within that range, this species is mostly or completely absent from the southern half of Florida, New England, and parts of the upper Midwest. In winter, Hooded Warblers may be found in the West Indies, southern Mexico, and the Caribbean coast of Central America. Hooded Warblers breed in deciduous forest habitats, preferring woodland with small openings and shrubby edge habitats to dense forest. In winter, this species may be found in undergrowth and edge habitats in tropical forest as well as in overgrown fields. Hooded Warblers primarily eat small invertebrates, including insects and spiders. In appropriate habitat, Hooded Warblers may be observed foraging for insects on leaves, twigs, and branches on the ground or in the undergrowth. Birdwatchers may also listen for this species’ song, a whistled “chi chi chi chi chi chet chet.” Hooded Warblers are primarily active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species migrates at night.
The hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina) is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America and 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.[2] This change has been accepted by the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union,[3] and the IOC World Bird List.[4] 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.[5] The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text.[6] Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Muscicapa citrina in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées.[7]
The hooded warbler was formerly placed in the genus Wilsonia.[8] A molecular phylogenetic study of the family Parulidae published in 2010 found that the hooded warbler was embedded in a clade that contained species then assigned to Dendroica as well as two of four species of Parula and the monotypic genera Catharopeza and Setophaga.[9] To create a monophyletic genus, all members of the clade were placed in the expanded genus Setophaga, which under the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, had priority.[9][10] The genus Setophaga had been introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827.[11] The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised.[10] The genus name Setophaga is from Ancient Greek ses, "moth", and phagos, "eating", and the specific citrina is Latin for citrine.[12]
The hooded warbler is a small bird and mid-sized warbler, measuring 13 cm (5.1 in) in length and weighing 9–12 g (0.32–0.42 oz).[13] The hooded warbler has a wingspan of 6.9 in (17.5 cm).[14] It has a plain olive/green-brown back, and yellow underparts. Their outer rectrices have whitish vanes. Males have distinctive black hoods which surround their yellow faces; the female has an olive-green cap which does not extend to the forehead, ears and throat instead. Males attain their hood at about 9–12 months of age; younger birds are essentially identical to (and easily confused with) females.[15] The song is a series of musical notes which sound like: wheeta wheeta whee-tee-oh, for which a common mnemonic is "The red, the red T-shirt" or "Come to the woods or you won't see me". The call of these birds is a loud chip.
These birds feed on insects, which are often found in low vegetation or caught by flycatching. Hooded warblers' breeding habitats are broadleaved woodlands with dense undergrowth. These birds nest in low areas of a bush, laying three to five eggs in a cup-shaped nest. Hooded warblers are often the victims of brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird, especially where the hooded warblers' forest habitats are fragmented. In areas with protected woodlands or recovering wooded habitat, the hooded warbler population is stable and possibly increasing.[13]
South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center - Texas
1st yr female - South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center - Texas
Female on nest
The hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina) is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America and 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.
