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 warblers or Australian warblers. Most are arboreal, but some, like the ovenbird and the two waterthrushes, are primarily terrestrial. Most members of this family are insectivores.
This group likely originated in northern Central America, where the greatest number of species and diversity between them is found. From there, they spread north during the interglacial periods, mainly as migrants, returning to the ancestral region in winter. Two genera, Myioborus and Basileuterus, seem to have colonized South America early, perhaps before the two continents were linked, and together constitute most warbler species of that region.
The scientific name for the family, Parulidae, originates from the fact that Linnaeus in 1758 named the northern parula as a tit, Parus americanus, and as taxonomy developed, the genus name was modified first to Parulus and then to Parula. The family name derives from the name for the genus.
Taxonomy
The family Parulidae was introduced for the New World warblers in 1947 by American ornithologist Alexander Wetmore and collaborators with Parula as the type genus. Parula is now considered as a junior synonym of Setophaga.The family was formerly thought to be sister to a clade containing the yellow-breasted chat in its own family Icteriidae, the wrenthrush in its own family Zeledoniidae, the two Cuban warblers in the family Teretistridae and the 109 species in the family Icteridae. However, more recent studies recover them as sister to a clade containing just the yellow-breasted chat and the Icteridae, with the clade containing all three families being sister to a clade containing the chat-tanagers in Calyptophilidae, the wrenthrush, and the Phaenicophilidae.
A molecular phylogenetic study of the Parulidae published in 2010 found that the species formed several major clades that did not align with the traditional genera. This led to a major reorganization of the species within the family to create monophyletic genera. The changes have generally followed the recommendations of the authors of the study except in a few cases where the proposed genera were split.
A large clade that included the 29 species then placed in the genus Dendroica, also included four species of Parula, one of the three species of Wilsonia and the monotypic genera Catharopeza and Setophaga. All members of the clade apart from Catharopeza were placed in the expanded genus Setophaga Swainson, 1827, which under the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, had priority over Dendroica Gray, 1842, Wilsonia Bonaparte, 1838, and Parula Bonaparte, 1838.
The species that had traditionally been placed in Basileuterus formed two clades. One group retains the genus name as it includes the golden-crowned warbler, the type species for the genus. The other larger group, now with 18 species, is placed in the resurrected genus Myiothlypis Cabanis, 1850, as it contains the type species, the black-crested warbler.
The genus Myioborus containing the whitestarts remained unchanged after the reorganization but six genera were no longer used: Dendroica, Ergaticus, Euthlypis, Parula, Wilsonia and Phaeothlypis.
Extant Genera
The family Parulidae now contains 120 species divided into 18 genera.| Image | Genus | Living species |
| Seiurus Swainson, 1827 |
| |
| Helmitheros Rafinesque, 1819 | ||
| Parkesia Sangster, 2008 | ||
| Vermivora Swainson, 1827 | ||
| Mniotilta Vieillot, 1816 | ||
| Protonotaria Baird, 1858 | ||
| Limnothlypis Stone, 1914 | ||
| Oreothlypis Ridgway, 1884 | ||
| Leiothlypis Sangster, 2008 | ||
| Leucopeza Sclater, 1876 | ||
| Oporornis Baird, 1858 | ||
| Geothlypis Cabanis, 1847 | ||
| Catharopeza P.L. Sclater, 1880 | ||
| Setophaga Swainson, 1827 | ||
| Myiothlypis Cabanis, 1850 | ||
| Basileuterus Cabanis, 1848 | ||
| Cardellina Bonaparte, 1850 | ||
| Myioborus Baird, 1865 |