Click photo to see complete painting

Northern Parula

Status Fairly common in summer. Breeds. It arrives in early May (average 6 May, earliest 1 May, besides two abnormally early birds on 17 and 26 April 1969). This species is well distributed during summer in wooded areas throughout the province and often lingers in small numbers in late fall (average 24 October, latest 27 November). A later straggler was noted at the Hawkins' feeder in Wilmot, Annapolis County, on 18 December 1981.

Description Length: 11-12 cm. Adult male: Head and upperparts mostly grayish blue; patch on centre of back greenish yellow; wings and tail grayish blue, the wings showing two prominent white bars and the tail having white spots on the outer feathers near its end; throat and breast mostly yellow, the breast crossed by a band of bluish black bordered with chestnut; belly white; flanks slightly washed with rufous. Adult female: Similar, but patch on back duller and underparts light yellow with breast band generally lacking.

Breeding Nest: Constructed inside a mass of hanging beard lichen (or "old man's beard", the lichen Usnea), usually with no other lining than that provided by the lichen itself. Sometimes a tree or group of trees well festooned with this lichen will attract more than one nesting pair. The nests are built at heights of 1-10 m or more. The suitability of the tree rather than its location appears to be the determining factor in its selection. Quite frequently old apple trees in forested areas are chosen for nest sites, but only if the trees are well decorated with the essential lichen.

Eggs: 3-5, usually 4; white, with cinnamon specks chiefly around the larger end. Of the 16 complete nests examined, 10 contained four eggs, 4 contained three, and the other 2 held five each. On 22 May 1922 a female was seen pulling at beard lichen and then flying off with fine strands of it in her bill; this indicates that Northern Parulas do not always procure additional lichen from that which grows so profusely on the nest tree itself as they might be expected to do. On 1 June 1909 at Caledonia, Queens County, Harold F. Tufts found a nest containing four slightly incubated eggs and on 12 June of that year he found another nest that contained five fresh eggs. On 1 July 1932 at Albany, Annapolis County, he examined three nests: two contained four eggs and one contained five; all eggs were only slightly incubated, surprising because July is late for first nests; these may have been second nests or renestings.

Range Breeds from central Ontario, southern Quebec, and Cape Breton Island, south to central Florida and the Gulf States. Winters in the West Indies and from southern Mexico to Nicaragua.

Remarks To find these birds during the summer nesting season, one should visit woods where beard lichen flourishes. In such surroundings the distinctive song of the male is most likely to be heard a sharp twitter ending abruptly on a note with a pronounced rising inflection.

This bird is difficult to study because much of its time is spent among higher branches. When seen to advantage, however, note the small size, the white wing bars, the greenish spot on the back and, in the male, the conspicuous dark band crossing its yellow breast.

The parula is a trusting little bird. Once I climbed to a nest that contained half-grown young. As I was peering into the nest, the female arrived with a bundle of insects for her babies. Instead of scolding like most species, she took slight notice of my proximity, went straight to the nest, quickly unloaded her cargo and left for more.