Northern Parula

Northern Parula

Setophaga americana

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Cañón del Sumidero National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

110 Verified sightings at Cañón del Sumidero National Park From 2019 to 2026
25,121 In all 39 parks
December Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Northern Parula

The northern parula (Setophaga americana) is a small New World warbler. It is migratory and breeds in eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida. The northern parula was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the tits in the genus Parus and coined the binomial name Parus americanus. Linnaeus based his account on "The Finch-Creeper" that had been described and illustrated in 1731 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Linnaeus specified the type locality as northern America, but in 1931 this was restricted to South Carolina by the American Ornithologists' Union. The northern parula was moved from the genus Parus to the genus Setophaga based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the Parulidae that was published in 2010. The species is considered to be monotypic, with no subspecies recognized. Northern parulas will occasionally hybridize with yellow-throated warblers, resulting in a hybrid species known as Sutton's warblers.

The genus name Setophaga is from Ancient Greek ses, "moth", and phagos,... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:28

United States · 2023

© Valerie Heemstra · XC843699 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:31

United States · 2019

© Russ Wigh · XC481233 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Drumming0:09

Canada · 2019

© David Darrell-Lambert · XC476949 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park 🇯🇲 Jamaica
~60%
2 Ciénaga de Zapata 🇨🇺 Cuba
~50%
3 Congaree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~50%
4 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~50%
5 Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~40%
6 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~40%
7 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
8 Los Haitises National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~30%
9 Isle Royale National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
10 Big Cypress National Preserve 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
11 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
12 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
13 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
14 Voyageurs National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
15 Cañón del Sumidero National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
16 Calakmul Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
17 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
18 Cape Breton Highlands National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
19 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇧🇿 Belize
~10%
20 Pico Bonito National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
21 Jaragua National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~10%
22 Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
23 Biotopo Cerro Cahuí 🇬🇹 Guatemala
~10%
24 Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
25 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
26 Tikal National Park 🇬🇹 Guatemala
<5%
27 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
28 Lago de Yojoa 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
29 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
30 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
31 Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
32 Cusuco National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
33 Redwood National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
34 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
35 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
36 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
37 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
38 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
39 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Orlando 🇺🇸 United States
~40%
2 Havana 🇨🇺 Cuba
~40%
3 Miami 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
4 Santo Domingo 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~30%
5 New York City 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
6 Philadelphia 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Baltimore 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Boston 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
9 Washington 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
10 Detroit 🇺🇸 United States
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 National Zoological Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Northern Parula in Cañón del Sumidero National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Parula sighting in Cañón del Sumidero National Park on a given day, based on 110 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 79th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Northern Parula in Cañón del Sumidero National Park?

December to February

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Parula in Cañón del Sumidero National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and July–September, the lowest months. Those are among Cañón del Sumidero National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 260 mm in June.

What time of day is best to see a Northern Parula?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Parula sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Northern Parula live in Cañón del Sumidero National Park?

Same genus: Setophaga

The closest relatives of the Northern Parula that you can see in Cañón del Sumidero National Park (genus Setophaga, Setophaga Warblers) are Magnolia Warbler (about 60%), Black-throated Green Warbler (about 40%) and Northern Yellow Warbler (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Northern Parula sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Northern Parula is recorded against all the birds logged in Cañón del Sumidero National Park (110 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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