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Canada warbler

species of bird

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ27076004
Source-derived summary

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 zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Canada warbler in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Canada. He used the French name Le gobe-mouche cendré de Canada and the Latin name Muscicapa Canadensis Cinerea. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the Canada warbler. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Muscicapa canadensis, and cited Brisson's work. The species is now placed in the genus Cardellina that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850. The species is monotypic.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Canada warbler” is species of bird. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Canada, warbler and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1760, 1766, 1850—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Canada, warbler and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of bird” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27076004. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1760, 1766 and 1850.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Canada warbler”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Canada warbler primary sources, Canada warbler archive and Canada research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Canada warbler”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Canada warbler” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.