Northern Parula - Ross Feldner

This plump, tiny wood-warbler is roughly the size of a kinglet, about 4.5” in length, with a sharp bill and a short tail. Males are beautifully colored in blue-gray with a bright yellow chest and throat and very distinctive white eye crescents.

The Northern Parula forages through the upper story of the forest, flitting and hopping in search of insects favoring small beetles, flies, moths, caterpillars, ants, bee, wasps and spiders. It primarily captures prey from vegetation by a hover-glean method, but it shows great versatility in its methods. It may make short flights from a perch to snatch prey in mid-flight or even hang upside-down to forage.

In all parts of its range, the Northern Parula is fond of moss and lichens, Spanish moss in the South and “Old Man’s Beard” lichens in the north. Parulas will hide their nests inside the hanging moss, making the nest virtually impossible to see to except for the parents.

The Northern Parula may be hard to see in the dense upper foliage, but it is easy to hear. The males sing a buzzy, rising pitch song constantly from early spring to mid-summer.