Northern Parula

The northern parula is a small warbler that is found in the eastern half of North America. There is a gap in their range through a good portion of the Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, northern Illinois, and northern Ohio) It is theorized that they perhaps existed in this area but because of the loss of necessary habitat they no longer nest there. They nest in vegetation hanging from trees. In the Canadian portion of their range they typically nest in old man's beard lichen which hangs from the trees. The southern U.S. population nests primarily in Spanish Moss. During the winter they migrate down to the southern tip of Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Here in Minnesota they do nest in the northeast portion of the state where we still have some bogs. This bird was photographed during spring migration.