Northern Parula
(Setophaga americana)

Overview

Summary

© Jukka Jantunen (flickr.com/photos/jukka_jantunen)
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Northern Parula is a common breeder in forests of southern Canada, east of the Manitoba border. The species is well monitored by the Breeding Bird Survey which indicates a large increase in population since 1970. Currently, there appear to be few major threats to the species. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Currently, there is little conservation concern for this species in Canada due to its increasing populations and its ability to occupy a wide range of habitats on both the breeding and wintering grounds (Moldenhauer and Regelski 2012). However, local extirpations have occurred due to air pollution causing loss of epiphytes used for nesting in the northeastern United States, and local populations have decreased in response to clear-cutting and wetland drainage in some areas (Moldenhauer and Regelski 2012).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Moldenhauer, R.R. and D.J. Regelski. 2012. Northern Parula (Setophaga americana), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Moldenhauer, R.R. and D.J. Regelski. 2012. Northern Parula (Setophaga americana), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)