Species
Hooded warbler
Setophaga citrina
A bright yellow warbler with a black hood that flicks white tail spots in shady woods.
Photo Rhododendrites (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 13 cm long
- Weight
- About 9 to 12 g
- Habitat
- Moist forests with dense understorey
- Diet
- Insects
- In Georgia
- A common summer resident
- Voice
- A loud "ta-wit ta-wit ta-wit tee-yo"
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Male
- Bright yellow face surrounded by a black hood; olive back
- Female
- Yellow with a partial hood or none
- Both
- Flash white patches in the tail
- Told apart from
- Kentucky warbler, which has yellow spectacles and no hood
- Where to look
- Shady woods with dense understorey
Behaviour
Hooded warblers flash white tail spots as they forage low, possibly to startle insects.
Why they matter
Males and females use different habitats in winter, one of the clearest examples of sex segregation in migratory birds.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A cup in a shrub
Eggs — Usually three or four
Incubation — About 12 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Lifespan — Several years
Living around people
- Dense understorey in woods supports them.
Misconceptions
- Female birds always look like males. Hooded warbler females may lack the hood entirely.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | In Central America | In Central America | Arriving late in the month | Nesting | Nesting | Second broods | Young fledging | Present | Leaving | Last birds | In Central America | In Central America |
Where it lives
Recorded in 43 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
- Alabamabreeding
- Arizonabreeding
- Arkansasbreeding
- California
- Connecticutbreeding
- Delawarebreeding
- District of Columbiapassing through
- Floridabreeding
- Georgiabreeding
- Illinoisbreeding
- Indianabreeding
- Kentuckybreeding
- Louisianabreeding
- Marylandbreeding
- Massachusettsbreeding
- Michiganbreeding
- Minnesotabreeding
- Mississippibreeding
- Missouribreeding
- New Jerseybreeding
- New Mexicobreeding
- New Yorkbreeding
- North Carolinabreeding
- Ohiobreeding
- Oklahomabreeding
- Pennsylvaniabreeding
- Rhode Islandbreeding
- South Carolinabreeding
- Tennesseebreeding
- Texasbreeding
- Virginiabreeding
- West Virginiabreeding
- Wisconsinbreeding
Canada
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