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Northern Parula

Setophaga americana

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)New World Warblers
Northern Parula, photographed by Ray Hennessy

Photo: Ray Hennessy · Unsplash · Unsplash License (licence)

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Call and song

About the Northern Parula

Small, short-tailed warbler with a sharply pointed, bicolored bill. Blue-gray above with mossy-green patch on the back, white eye-arcs, and yellow breast. Adult males have most extensive black and rufous breast band; young females are plain yellow. Breeds in mature coniferous or deciduous forests, especially near water. Builds nest with moss; especially fond of Spanish moss in the southeast U.S. and old-man’s-beard in the Northeast. Found in any wooded habitat in migration. Winters primary in the Caribbean and eastern Mexico. Loud song is a buzzy, ascending trill with sharp chip at the end; sounds like a zipper. Compare with Tropical Parula, which always has a clean yellow or orange breast and lacks white eye-arcs.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 46 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

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