Tropical Parula Identification

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Male

A small, colorful songbird with gray to bluish upperparts and yellow to orange underparts. Adult male has a black facial mask and dark orangeish band across the breast.

Female

Female has the same color pattern as male but is duller overall, lacking a black facial mask and orangeish breast band.

Male

A small warbler with blue-gray upperparts, an olive patch on the back, and yellow-orange underparts. Adult male has a black mask and an orangeish throat and upper breast. Birds in the “South American” subspecies group (and most other groups) have two white wingbars.

Male

Most subspecies groups, including the “Northeast Mexico” group that reaches southern Texas, have two white wingbars. Both sexes have an olive patch on the back.

Male

The “South American” subspecies group is lighter blue-gray above, less orange below, and has two white wingbars.

Male

Forages in the canopy or subcanopy, where it picks insects and other arthropods from foliage.

Male (Middle American)

The “Middle American” subspecies group has deep blue upperparts, a small olive patch on the back, extensive yellow underparts, and at most a single white wingbar.

Male

Typically found high in trees in forest or woodland.

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Northern ParulaAdult male

Northern ParulaAdult female

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Identification

Small short-tailed warbler; bright and boldly patterned. Blue-gray above with green back, two bold white wingbars (limited white in Middle American birds), and yellow-orange throat and chest. Males have darker face and brighter yellow-orange chest than females. Bill is sharp, black above and yellow below. Very similar to Northern Parula; note lack of white eyearcs and no dark markings on breast. Beware of rarely-occurring hybrids and some dull immatures, which can be very similar to Northern Parula. Common and widespread in forests throughout Central and South America; rare in U.S.; found only in mossy forests in southern Texas.

Relative Size

About the same size as a Bananaquit.

Size chart showing sparrow to goose sized

sparrow-sized or smaller

Measurements

Both Sexes
- Length: 4.3-4.5 in (10.8-11.4 cm)
- Weight: 0.2-0.3 oz (6.5-8 g)

Regional Differences

Ornithologists recognize seven Tropical Parula subspecies groups: the “Northeast Mexico” group, which stretches from northeastern Mexico into southern Texas; the “West Mexico” group, found in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental; the widespread “Middle American” group, occurring from southern Mexico to northwestern Colombia; the “South American” group covering most of that continent; and three groups largely or entirely restricted to islands: the “Tres Marias Islands,” “Socorro Island,” and “Coiba Island” groups. The Tropical Parula subspecies groups differ in the extent and intensity of the yellow-orange underparts, upperpart color (gray to blue), the number of white wingbars (zero, one, or two), and tail length.