Setophaga
Genus of birds
title: "Setophaga" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["setophaga", "bird-genera", "birds-of-north-america", "meso-american-wintering-birds", "taxa-named-by-william-swainson"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setophaga" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| image = Dendroica-fusca-001.jpg | image_caption = Blackburnian warbler, Setophaga fusca | taxon = Setophaga | authority = Swainson, 1827 | synonyms =Parula Bonaparte, 1838
Dendroica G. R. Gray, 1842 | type_species = Motacilla ruticilla | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/A_palm_warbler.jpg" caption="The palm warbler is a member of genus ''Setophaga''" alt="The Palm warbler is a member of the Setophaga genus"] ::
Setophaga is a genus of birds of the New World warbler family Parulidae. It contains at least 34 species. The Setophaga warblers are an example of adaptive radiation with the various species using different feeding techniques and often feeding in different parts of the same tree.
Most Setophaga species are long-range migrants, wintering in or near the New World tropics and seasonally migrating to breed in North America. In contrast, two Setophaga species, the palm warbler and yellow-rumped warbler, have winter ranges that extend along the Atlantic coast of North America as far north as Nova Scotia. The males in breeding plumage are often highly colorful.
Taxonomy
The genus Setophaga was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The type species was subsequently designated by Swainson in the same year as the American redstart Setophaga ruticilla. The genus name Setophaga means moth eater in Ancient Greek; from σής : sēs (genitive σητός : sētós), "moth", and φάγος : phágos, "eating".
Traditionally, most members (29 species) of Setophaga were recognized as belonging to the genus Dendroica. The only member of Setophaga was the American redstart. More recent genetic research suggested that Dendroica and Setophaga be merged. This change was accepted by both the North American and South American Classification Committees of the American Ornithological Society and the IOC World Bird List. As the name Setophaga (published in 1827) takes priority over Dendroica (published in 1842), those who accept the merger transferred all Dendroica species to Setophaga.
History
A burst of speciation in Setophaga occurred between 4.5 and 7 million years ago. This time frame roughly corresponds to the transition from the Miocene to the Pliocene period, when an abrupt rise in temperature and the fragmentation of forest habitats in North America may have caused allopatric speciation in the genus. It is widely agreed that this speciation constitutes an adaptive radiation, though recent evidence is mixed, noting that evidence of both adaptive and non-adaptive radiations exists.
Up to several Setophaga species coexist in regions such as northeastern North America. Since these species are strikingly similar in both diet and morphology, this was once thought to be a violation of the laws of evolution. Further study concluded that species coexist through subtle feeding differences due to niche partitioning and diffuse exploitative interspecific competition: rather than compete directly for the same food resources, species utilize slightly different feeding strategies to capture a slightly different set of prey species.
List of species
The genus contains 37 species. They are: ::data[format=table]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Dendroica adelaidae.jpg | 120px]] | Adelaide's warbler | Setophaga adelaidae |
| [[File:Setophaga ruticilla -Chiquimula, Guatemala -male-8-4c.jpg | 120px]] | American redstart | Setophaga ruticilla |
| [[File:Dendroica-aestiva-001.jpg | 120px]] | Yellow warbler | Setophaga petechia |
| [[File:Setophaga pharetra Blue Mountains 1.jpg | 120px]] | Arrowhead warbler | Setophaga pharetra |
| [[File:Bahama Warbler, South Abaco, Bahamas 1.jpg | 120px]] | Bahama warbler | Setophaga flavescens |
| [[File:Barbuda Warbler.jpg | 120px]] | Barbuda warbler | Setophaga subita |
| [[File:Bay-breasted Warbler (male) Anahuac NWR - Woodlot TX 2018-04-25 12-28-22 (40261478240).jpg | 120px]] | Bay-breasted warbler | Setophaga castanea |
| [[File:Blackburnian warbler (Setophaga fusca) (15412645342).jpg | 120px]] | Blackburnian warbler | Setophaga fusca |
| [[File:Dendroica striata MN.jpg | 120px]] | Blackpoll warbler | Setophaga striata |
| [[File:Setophaga caerulescens 280024014.jpg | 120px]] | Black-throated blue warbler | Setophaga caerulescens |
| [[File:Black-throated green warbler in PP (14050).jpg | 120px]] | Black-throated green warbler | Setophaga virens |
| [[File:Black-throated Gray Warbler, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.jpg | 120px]] | Black-throated grey warbler | Setophaga nigrescens |
| [[File:Cape May Warbler (37443178010).jpg | 120px]] | Cape May warbler | Setophaga tigrina |
| [[File:Cerulean Warbler, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.jpg | 120px]] | Cerulean warbler | Setophaga cerulea |
| [[File:Chestnut-sided Warbler Tex.jpg | 120px]] | Chestnut-sided warbler | Setophaga pensylvanica |
| [[File:Elfin-woods warbler perched on a tree branch.jpg | 120px]] | Elfin woods warbler | Setophaga angelae |
| [[File:Golden-cheeked Warbler (male)-Kerr WMA-TX - 2015-05-24at13-39-5312 (21618131341).jpg | 120px]] | Golden-cheeked warbler | Setophaga chrysoparia |
| [[File:Grace's_Warbler.jpg | 120px]] | Grace's warbler | Setophaga graciae |
| [[File:Dendroica occidentalis male 1.jpg | 120px]] | Hermit warbler | Setophaga occidentalis |
| [[File:Hooded Warbler.jpg | 120px]] | Hooded warbler | Setophaga citrina |
| [[File:7Z1E0226.jpg | 120px]] | Kirtland's warbler | Setophaga kirtlandii |
| [[File:Dendroica magnolia MN.jpg | 120px]] | Magnolia warbler | Setophaga magnolia |
| [[File:Northern parula (81271).jpg | 120px]] | Northern parula | Setophaga americana |
| [[File:Olive-capped Warbler, Cuba 1.jpg | 120px]] | Olive-capped warbler | Setophaga pityophila |
| [[File:I hope you like palm warblers (33461800860).jpg | 120px]] | Palm warbler | Setophaga palmarum |
| [[File:Pine warbler (81059).jpg | 120px]] | Pine warbler | Setophaga pinus |
| [[File:Plumbeous Warbler (Dendroica plumbea).jpg | 120px]] | Plumbeous warbler | Setophaga plumbea |
| [[File:Prairie Warbler (5270341151).jpg | 120px]] | Prairie warbler | Setophaga discolor |
| [[File:St. Lucia Warbler nEO.jpg | 120px]] | Saint Lucia warbler | Setophaga delicata |
| [[File:Townsend's Warbler - Washington State S4E2274 (19227398525) (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Townsend's warbler | Setophaga townsendi |
| [[File:Parula pitiayumi -Piraju, Sao Paulo, Brazil-8.jpg | 120px]] | Tropical parula | Setophaga pitiayumi |
| [[File:Vitelline Warbler.jpg | 120px]] | Vitelline warbler | Setophaga vitellina |
| [[File:Setophaga coronata MP.jpg | 120px]] | Myrtle warbler | Setophaga coronata |
| [[File:Audubon's Warbler (Setophaga auduboni) - Washington State.jpg | 120px]] | Audubon's warbler | Setophaga auduboni |
| winters to Mesoamerica | |||
| [[File:Setophaga goldmani Huehuetenango 2.jpg | 120px]] | Goldman's warbler | Setophaga goldmani |
| [[File:Yellow-throated Warbler - Cuba S4E0979 (23040952276).jpg | 120px]] | Yellow-throated warbler | Setophaga dominica |
| :: |
References
References
- . ["Parulidae"](https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=197). *The Trust for Avian Systematics*.
- "Explore BNA". Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
- Swainson, William. (1827). "A synopsis of the birds discovered in Mexico by W. Bullock, F.L.S. and Mr. William Bullock jun.". Philosophical Magazine.
- Swainson, William. (1827). "On several groups and forms in ornithology, not hitherto defined". Zoological Journal.
- (1968). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
- Chesser R. T.. (2011). "Fifty-Second Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds". Auk.
- [http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm A Classification of the Bird Species of South America], accessed 17 August 2016
- (July 2023). "New World warblers, mitrospingid tanagers". International Ornithologists' Union.
- Lovette, Irby J.. (2010). "A comprehensive multilocus phylogeny for the wood-warblers and a revised classification of the Parulidae (Aves)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (1999-08-22). "Explosive speciation in the New World Dendroica warblers". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.
- (1995). "Paleoclimate and evolution, with emphasis on human origins". Yale university press.
- (October 2000). "The Imprint of History on Communities of North American and Asian Warblers". The American Naturalist.
- (2022-03-25). "Extensions and limitations of MacArthur (1958): A review of ecological and evolutionary approaches to competition and diet in the New World wood warblers (Parulidae)". Ornithology.
- (2024-02-19). "A late burst of colour evolution in a radiation of songbirds (Passeriformes: Parulidae) suggests secondary contact drives signal divergence". Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
- MacArthur, Robert H.. (October 1958). "Population Ecology of Some Warblers of Northeastern Coniferous Forests". Ecology.
- (2022-03-15). "Extensions and limitations of MacArthur (1958): A review of ecological and evolutionary approaches to competition and diet in the New World wood warblers (Parulidae)". Ornithology.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::