Northern parula Parula americana

Identification Tips:

• Small, active, insect-eating bird
• Thin, pointed bill
• Smaller than most warblers
• Gray head, sides of breast, rump and tail
• White broken eye ring
• White wing bars
• Yellow throat and breast
• White belly and undertail coverts
• Olive back
• Yellow legs

Adult male alternate:

• Black and orange patch across breast
• Black lores and eyeline

Female and immature:

• Lacks breast patch of male
• Lacks black in face of male
• Plumage duller than male

Similar species:

The Norther Parula is rather small, even for a warbler. The male Northern Parula is distinctive with its breast patch. No other warbler has this feature. Females have a yellow throat and breast, wing bars, small size, and broken eye ring to identify them. Yellowthroats and Mourning Warblers are most similar in face and underpart pattern but lack wing bars. The very local (South Texas) Tropical Parula is similar in size but the male lacks the dark portion of the breast patch and has more black on the face while the other plumages lack the broken eye ring and have more yellow on the underparts.