Adult male photo by Ryan Schain/ Macauley Library
Arguably, the smallest of the warblers...at 4 1/2" (11 cm), the Northern Parula is a short-tailed warbler, gray-blue above with yellowish green upper back, and two bold white wing bars. Its throat and breast are bright yellow and its belly is white.
The adult male has reddish and black bands across the breast, but in female and immature male, the bands are fainter or absent.
They range in mixed or coniferous woods, especially near water where Spanish Moss or "Old Man's Beard" lichen grows, which are both used for construction of nests.
Parulas allow close approach. They are active, acrobatic foragers, sometimes hanging upside down in the hunt for insects on tree trunks, leaf clusters or ends of branches.
They also hover-glean and hawk flying insects.
Being one of the smallest of all warblers, they are frequently dominated by other birds, including some other warbler species. They are also sadly sometimes cowbird hosts.
They suffer from habitual loss due to logging and clearing of hardwoods.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder
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