the hooded warbler (setophaga citrina) is a new world warbler .
it breeds in eastern north america and across the eastern united states and into southernmost canada , (ontario) .
it is migratory , wintering in central america and the west indies .
hooded warblers are very rare vagrants to western europe .
recent genetic research has however suggested that the type species of wilsonia (hooded warbler w .
citrina) and of setophaga (american redstart s .
ruticilla) are closely related and should be merged into the same genus .
as the name setophaga (published in 1827) takes priority over wilsonia (published in 1838), hooded warbler would then be transferred as setophaga citrina .
this change has been accepted by the north american classification committee of the american ornithologists' union , and the ioc world bird list .
the south american classification committee continues to list the bird in the genus wilsonia .
the hooded warbler is a small bird and mid-sized warbler , measuring 13 cm (5.1 in) in length and weighing 912 g (0.320.42 oz) .
it has a plain olive/green-brown back , and yellow underparts .
their outer rectrices have whitish vanes .
males have distinctive black hoods which surround their yellow faces; the female has an olive-green cap which does not extend to the forehead , ears and throat instead .
males attain their hood at about 912 months of age; younger birds are essentially identical to (and easily confused with) females .
the song is a series of musical notes which sound like: wheeta wheeta whee-tee-oh , for which a common mnemonic is "the red , the red t-shirt" or "come to the woods or you won't see me" .
the call of these birds is a loud chip .
these birds feed on insects , which are often found in low vegetation or caught by flycatching .
hooded warblers' breeding habitats are broadleaved woodlands with dense undergrowth .
these birds nest in low areas of a bush , laying three to five eggs in a cup-shaped nest .
hooded warblers are often the victims of brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird , especially where the hooded warblers' forest habitats are fragmented .
in areas with protected woodlands or recovering wooded habitat , the hooded warbler population is stable and possibly increasing .
