''Wilsonia'' was a formerly recognized small genus of

New World warbler The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds that make up the family Parulidae and are restricted to the New World. The family contains 120 species. They are not closely related to Old World warb ...

s. The species previously included in the genus breed in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and are migratory, wintering south of their breeding ranges in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The three species formerly included in ''Wilsonia'', all since transferred to other genera, are: *

Hooded warbler The hooded warbler (''Setophaga citrina'') is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies. Ho ...

, now ''Setophaga citrina'' *

Wilson's warbler Wilson's warbler (''Cardellina pusilla'') is a small New World warbler. It is greenish above and yellow below, with rounded wings and a long, slim tail. The male has a black crown patch; depending on the subspecies, that mark is reduced or absent ...

, now ''Cardellina pusilla'' *

Canada warbler The Canada warbler (''Cardellina canadensis'') is a small boreal songbird of the New World warbler family (Parulidae). It summers in Canada and northeastern United States and winters in northern South America. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoolog ...

, now ''Cardellina canadensis'' Former ''Wilsonia'' warblers are long. They have yellow underparts and black head markings in at least the adult male plumage. The hooded warbler and Wilson's warbler have plain olive green-brown backs, while the Canada warbler has grey upperparts and also migrates much further than the others. The breeding habitat is broadleaved woodlands with dense undergrowth. These

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s nest low in a bush or on the ground, laying 3–6 eggs in a cup nest. Former ''Wilsonia'' warblers feed on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, often caught by flycatching, and they have distinctive songs and loud ''chip'' calls.

Taxonomy

Some authorities previously suggested that the genus ''Wilsonia'' should include the red-faced warbler, which is generally put in the genus '' Cardellina''. Genetic research has however indicated that the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of ''Wilsonia'', the hooded warbler, is only distantly related to Wilson's and Canada warblers, and is instead closely related to the type species of ''

Setophaga ''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 f ...

'' (

American redstart The American redstart (''Setophaga ruticilla'') is a New World warbler. It is unrelated to the Old World Common redstart, (common) redstart. Taxonomy The American redstart was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Nat ...

''S. ruticilla''). As the name ''Setophaga'' (published in 1827) takes priority over ''Wilsonia'' (published in 1838), hooded warbler has accordingly been transferred to ''Setophaga''. The other two former ''Wilsonia'' species are indeed closely related to the red-faced warbler, and have thus been transferred to ''Cardellina''. These changes have been universally accepted among relevant regional and global checklists, including by the North American Classification Committee of the AOUChesser, R. T. et al. (2011). Fifty-Second Supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds. ''Auk'' 128 (3): 600-61
fulltext
/ref> and the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

. This genus was named to commemorate the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q514515 Parulidae Bird genera Obsolete bird taxa Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte