photo by Phil Swanson

Parula americana
L 4 1/2″ (11 cm).

Song or calls:
Song is rising buzzy trill ending with an abrupt lower “zip.”

Description: Gray-blue above with yellowish-green upper back; bright yellow breast and throat; white belly; short-tailed; two bold white wing bars; and white eye ring broken by black eye line. Male has reddish and black bands across breast. In female, the bands are faint or absent.

Habitat: Migrants found in parks, orchards, and along roadsides. Breeding birds are restricted to swampy woods.

Where in Nebraska: Uncommon spring and fall migrant in eastern Nebraska. Vagrants occur west to Garden and Sheridan Counties. Possibly breeds in the immediate area of the Missouri River valley in southeastern Nebraska.

Fun Facts: Nothern Parulas are one of the only birds that nests in Spanish moss.

 
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