Hooded Warbler

Overview

Hooded Warbler: Medium warbler, olive-green upperparts, bright yellow underparts. Head has black hood, and yellow face. The eyes are large and dark and the tail is often spread, displaying large white spots. Bill is black, legs and feet are pink. Makes short, direct flights on rapidly beating wings.

Range and Habitat

Hooded Warbler: Breeds from Iowa, Michigan, and southern New England south to the Gulf coast and northern Florida. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include mature, moist forests with luxuriant undergrowth and wooded swamps.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Hooded Warbler is strongly territorial on its wintering grounds. Males and females use different habitats: males in mature forest, and females in scrubbier forest and seasonally flooded areas.
This winter habitat segregation was first detected with this species and is now known to occur in other neotropical migrants such as American Redstart, Northern Parula, and Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Part of its scientific name, citrina, refers to its dazzling yellow color.
A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

The Hooded Warbler has a large range, estimated globally at 2,000,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and nearby island nations and introduced to the United Kingdom, this bird prefers temperate, tropical, and subtropical ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 4,000,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Hooded Warbler is Least Concern.