Bird

Northern Parula

Parula americana

A summer resident that nests in North Carolina. Found in all 100 counties, across 13 habitats.

Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 13

Male Northern Parula, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Bill Keim, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 2029861. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 13
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 13

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 13

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large FloodplainNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa ModifierNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

SummerOnly within 120 m of water.Southern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old FieldLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)*Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"*, Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerOnly within 120 m of water.Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Disturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

SummerOnly within 120 m of water.Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

SummerOnly within 120 m of water.Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

SummerOnly within 120 m of water.

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Deciduous Plantation; Managed Tree Plantation

Other habitats in its models (55)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (31)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Winter.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer and winter.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
South Florida Pine Flatwoods Winter, only within 120 m of water.
South Florida Pine Rockland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.

Northeast (3)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer, only within 120 m of water.

Land cover and other classes (21)

Developed, Low Intensity Winter, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Recently Burned Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Recently Burned Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Recently Burned Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Recently Burned Shrubland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Recently Logged Areas Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Summer: nests here, in all 100 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.