© Kathryn Dow, All Rights Reserved. From Sundays shoot focus was on this pretty little warbler I always wanted an image of the Northern Parula Setophaga americana Northern Parula Northern Parulas breed in mature forests along streams, swamps, and other bottomlands. Theyre closely associated with epiphytic plants that grow on the branches of canopy trees. In the southern U.S. they use Spanish moss; farther north they use beard moss. Key tree species include water, willow, and swamp chestnut oak, black gum, eastern hemlock, sugar and red maple, birches, and sycamore On its tropical wintering grounds, parulas use many habitat types including fields, pastures, scrub, woodland, and coffee, cacao, and citrus plantations. Northern Parulas forage by gleaning leaves and branch tips for spiders and many kinds of insects, particularly caterpillars. Also eats beetles, moths, ants, wasps, bees, flies, locusts, and others. During the breeding season Northern Parulas also occasionally eat bud scales and on wintering grounds they sometimes eat berries, seeds, or nectar. They fly with rapid wingbeats and hop quickly through branches. When acting defensively, parulas may demonstrate a wing-droop display, during which wingtips are held below the base of the tail as the bird calls.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 00:12:10 +0000
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