Prairie Warbler

About the Prairie Warbler

The prairie warbler (Setophaga discolor) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. The prairie warbler belongs to the genus Setophaga. The species was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in a work published in 1807 documenting North American birds, where he called the bird Sylvia discolor, although the genus designation Sylvia was not later retained. It was also previously assigned to the genus Dendroica before that genus was merged into Setophaga.

The vernacular name "prairie warbler" is attributed to the Scottish-American naturalist Alexander Wilson who saw the species in 1810 in prairie country in southwestern Kentucky. This name is arguably misleading, since the bird generally prefers shrubbery and small trees rather than true open prairie habitats.

There are two recognized subspecies, S. d. discolor and S. d. paludicola. The first, S. d. discolor, is the migratory form which breeds throughout the full range and spends winters in Florida and the West Indies. The second, S. d. paludicola, is the sedentary form which permanently inhabits the coasts of Florida. American zoologist Arthur H. Howell is credited with describing S. d. paludicola... Wikipedia →