Northern Parula

Overview

Northern Parula: Small, compact warbler with blue-gray upperparts and bronze-green back patch. Throat and breast are yellow, breast band is chestnut-brown and black, belly and undertail coverts are white. White eye-ring is broken. Wings are blue-gray with two white bars. Tail is noticeably short.

Range and Habitat

Northern Parula: Breeds from southeastern Canada to the Gulf coast and winters from southern Florida southward into the tropics. Preferred breeding habitat includes wet, chiefly coniferous woods, in swamps, and along lakes and ponds. More widespread during migration.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Northern Parula is one of only a few birds that nests in Spanish moss.
Males have a dark bar across their yellow chest. No other warbler has any such marking.
One of the smallest warblers, it was originally named the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler.
A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

The Northern Parula has a large range, estimated globally at 3,400,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and nearby island nations, this bird prefers temperate, subtropical, or tropical forest ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 7,300,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Northern Parula is Least Concern.