| Scientific Name |  Click photo to enlarge. Photo by Fred J. Alsop, III. |
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| Parula americana Linnaeus - ATBI Database: Specimen Records | |||||
| Common Name | |||||
| Northern Parula | |||||
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | |
| Animalia | Chordata | Aves | Passeriformes | Parulidae | |
| Animals | Chordates | Birds | Perching Birds | Wood-Warblers | |
This bird is quite dependent on the availability of Spanish moss or beard lichen, with which it builds its nest. It usually occupies the canopies of tall trees, so can be difficult to spot, but is often recognized by the male’s distinctive song.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
Length: 9.5 - 11.4 cm
Physical characteristics: One of the smaller warblers, with a slim, pointed bill and yellow legs. The upperparts of this bird are bluish, with an olive-green patch on the back. The breast and throat are yellow; the belly is white. There are two white wing bars and a broken white eye ring. The adult male has a orange-brown breast band and black on the face, both of which the female lacks.
Voice: Song is an ascending buzz ending with a chip or tsup. Song recorded by John R. Sauer.
Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter: Northern Parula
DISTRIBUTION
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Breeding: The Northern Parula breeds from the eastern corner of southern Canada, south throughout the eastern half of the United States. Click on the map on the left to see the breeding range as determined by the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). |
| Map not available. | Winter: This bird winters in Florida, eastern Mexico and Central America, and the islands of the West Indies. |
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In Park: The Northern Parula is a very common breeding bird species in the Park. It is a neotropical migrant so it is absent in the winter months. In the Smokies, this species can be observed at all elevations and is especially common in Cataloochee. |
 Click images to enlarge. |
A survey of breeding birds in the Park, performed from 1996-1999, ranked Northern Parula as the 19th most common species out of 113 species observed during the breeding season. Estimates from this survey indicate that overall Northern Parula density in the Park during the breeding season is approximately 0.11 pairs/hectare. |
NATURAL HISTORY
Breeding habitat
Breeding pairs are found in both coniferous and deciduous woods, particularly in wet areas. They frequent localities where large quantities of Spanish moss and lichens, which are used to build their nests, are found.
Mating system
Generally monogamous; one brood is produced in the North; two have been reported in the southern states.
Nest
The nest is built in a mass of hanging lichen or Spanish moss, where a cup is formed at the bottom. The entrance is usually on the side. The nest is often lined with more moss or lichen, or sometimes with fine grass, hair or plant down.
Eggs
A clutch may contain from 3 - 5 eggs that are white to creamy-white and marked with a variety of browns and reds. Markings are frequently confined to the larger end of the egg. 17mm (0.7'').
Chick development
The male will feed the female while she incubates the eggs. The incubation period is from 12 – 14 days. Chicks are born altricial. The female broods and is the main feeder of the young. Chicks fledge at 10 – 11 days, but are still unable to fly at this time and will remain near the parents begging for food.
Diet
The diet is made up of almost exclusively insects. This bird hovers or hangs upside down on foliage and gleans from the tips of branches, twigs and leaves.
Parasites
An undescribed species of feather mite of the genus Trouessartia (Trouessartiidae) was collected from a parula caught at Tremont, Tennessee, in June of 2002 (Reeves et al. 2007)
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
There has been some decline in the numbers of the Northern Parula in the Midwest due to loss of lichens in the region. However the population is considered stable.
The Northern Parula is an uncommon cowbird host, mostly because of the closed construction of its nest
Special Protection Status
Rangewide: None.
Region: None.
In Park: All plants and animals are protected within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Collection requires a permit which is usually granted only for research or educational purposes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Maps
Breeding: Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2005. Version 6.2.2006. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.
Winter: N/A
In Park: Discover Life in America - All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. 2007. The ATBI Database. http://tremont22.campus.utk.edu/ATBI_start.cfm, Discover Life in America, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738.
Photographs
Song or Call
John R. Sauer, Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html
Text
Camille Sobun, Susan Ann Shriner, and Paul Super, 2007.
Web page
REFERENCES
Alsop, F. J. III. 1991. Birds Of The Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains History Association, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117: 847-858.
Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2002. Forty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 119: 897-906.
Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds: the Species of Birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands, 7th ed. The Union, Washington, D. C.
Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The Birder's Handbook: a Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York.
Elphick, C., J. B. Dunning, Jr., and D. A. Sibley, eds. 2001. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html.
Moldenhauer, R. R., and D. J. Regelski. 1996. Northern Parula (Parula americana). In The Birds of North America, No. 215 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Reeves, W. K., L. A. Durden, C. M. Ritzi, K. R. Beckham, P. E. Super, and B. M. O’Connor. 2007. Ectoparasites and other ectosymbiotic arthropods of vertebrates in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Zootaxa.
Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press.
