Prairie Warbler
Setophaga discolor
About This Species
A small, active warbler of shrubby second growth, pine barrens and scrubby edges, it forages low in dense vegetation for insects, frequently flicking its tail as it moves. Listen for its distinctive rising, buzzy song delivered from a low perch during the breeding season in spring and early summer, when males sing persistently to defend territory in brushy habitat.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- A few metres of distance while remaining still is usually enough to observe this small songbird without causing it to flush or abandon foraging.
- In the United States it is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, making it illegal to disturb nests, eggs or young, so avoid pushing into dense shrub cover where a nest might be concealed.
- Playback of its song should be used sparingly, if at all, during the breeding season to avoid disrupting territorial behaviour.
LCAvesPasseriformesParulidae
Seasonal Activity
840,443 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Parulidae
Photo
(c) Fyn Kynd, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Fyn Kynd
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.